Gold settled higher in Wednesday trading ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Markets Committee meeting.
The Fed issued a statement during the afternoon indicating that it would further taper its monthly bond-buying by another $10 billion a month, beginning in February. Last month, the Fed cut its monthly stimulus from $85 billion to $75 billion. The latest move reduces Feb bond-buying to $65 billion a month. U.S. stock markets dropped sharply on the news.
Gold futures for February delivery rose 0.9% to $1,262.20 per ounce on Wednesday, according to . Gold traded as high as $1,269.30 and as low as $1,248.30. Bullion closed in London at $1,269, according to .
Silver futures for March delivery rose 0.2%, to $19.55 per ounce. Wednesday’s high for silver was $19.97, while the low was $19.45.
Metal funds improved on Wednesday.
- The SPDR Gold Shares () climbed 1.3%.
- The iShares Gold Trust () rose 1.2%.
- The iShares Silver Trust () added 1.1%.
Mining ETFs advanced during the day.
- The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF () increased 2.7%.
- The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF () surged 4.2%.
- The Global X Silver Miners ETF () moved up 3.1%.
Gold stocks gained on Wednesday.
- Agnico-Eagle Mines () rose 3.3%.
- Barrick Gold () added 3.8%.
- Eldorado Gold () jumped 4.3%.
- Goldcorp () increased 3.7%.
- Kinross Gold () added 1.9%.
- Newmont Mining () edged up 0.8%.
- NovaGold Resources () surged 5.8%.
- Yamana Gold () advanced 2.9%.
Silver mining shares mostly moved higher during the day.
- Coeur d’Alene Mines () fell 0.9%.
- Hecla Mining () gained 1.8%.
- Pan American Silver () rose 2.6%.
- Silver Wheaton () added 0.7%.
- Silver Standard Resources () improved 2.6%.
As of this writing, Christopher Freeburn did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of contributed to this report.
