December gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $4 an ounce lower Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December silver is expected to be 5 cents softer. December gold extended its Comex most-active-month record high to $1,072 during overnight trading, taking out Tuesday's $1,069.70 peak. This occurred in the middle of the New York night, supported by more weakness in the dollar, analysts said. Buying by momentum-based funds was cited. The metal has since pulled back, with some analysts saying a correction was expected and with the euro backing down from its highs. At 7:52 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading down $5.80 to $1,058.55. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.4889 from $1.4829 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are up 14.20 points to 1,083. November crude oil is up 74 cents to $74.89 a barrel in overnight activity. After a light start to the week, the U.S. economic calendar heats up Wednesday. Reports include: - September retail sales due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), forecast to be down 2.1% but up 0.3% when excluding autos; - September import prices at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), expected to rise 0.3%; - August business inventories at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), forecast to be down 1.2%; and - the minutes of the September meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, scheduled for release at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). In New York Tuesday, gold futures hit record highs as the greenback weakened. December gold rose $7.50 to settle at $1,065 an ounce, December silver gained 2 cents to $17.84 an ounce. Comex gold warehouse stocks were up 3,903 ounces at 9,339,911 ounces Tuesday, while silver stocks were down 199,714 ounces at 116,215,094 ounces.

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