Yet one more time, Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen said the central bank would not be raising interest rates anytime soon. Her reasoning was laid out clearly one more time, too. Labor is improving but not completely healthy. Inflation is weak. Some foreign economies are still sluggish or downright troubled.

Gold is off today modestly entirely on dollar strength, regular trading pushing back on the small battlefield. Investors are awaiting two pieces of news before bigger moves are made, as well as looking at a surprise move out of OPEC.

Gold lost more ground today as its haven appeal faded as it seems more likely the EU and Greece will reach some sort of accord on the small country’s debt structure. A slight fall in the dollar (virtually unchanged) didn’t lend much assistance, as the world’s equities markets danced to the Greek tune.

As is their usual pattern, markets can’t decide on what the FOMC minutes actually mean for the U.S. economy as a whole.

The surprise winner today in the markets was – drum roll – Great Britain. A number of economic reports say that GB is in the midst of an economic surge that follows many years in the doldrums. Wages grew a whopping 2.1% in December, although that is an average and much growth was in higher-end occupations. Inflation remained subdued.

Greece, a flea of an economy, is giving big dog EU and other high-powered economies an itch they can’t quite scratch. Consequently, everyone is playing it safe, though they’re not stampeding into haven instruments except for currencies.

In a short trading day, a stronger dollar and regular trading tussled for dominance, with the traders coming out on top by $2.90 to the upside. Today is Presidents Day in the United States so the trading of precious metals was restricted to the morning.

Gold is about midway between its high and low for the day as we move into late afternoon. In regular trading, it found strength, but a U.S. dollar that started out lower early in the day has gradually moved almost to practically unchanged, eroding that extra oomph a soft dollar gives bullish movement.

Playing off a supposed agreement between Russia and Ukraine, brokered by western powers like France and Germany, equities markets relaxed a bit and were bid up across the world. Not all is rosy, however, in eastern Europe.

“I have no illusions; we have no illusions,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said after the marathon talks. “Much, much work is still necessary.”

Today’s market can be characterized as cautious, rather than fearful. Money went to the sidelines ahead of a meeting by European finance ministers to discuss the future of Greece, and in all likelihood devise a plan to keep the struggling country with no visible means of support from exiting the euro-zone.