Gold Gains As Fed Announces Tapering Plans
by Christopher Freeburn | December 18, 2013 5:03 pm
[1]Gold rose modestly in Wednesday trading even as the U.S. Federal Reserve announced plans to trim its monthly bond-buying by $10 billion in January. U.S. equities also rose sharply during the day.
Though the Fed will begin reducing its economic stimulus, central bank officials signaled that they will continue to keep a key interest rate near zero even after the U.S. unemployment rate falls below 6.5%. Investors and economists had long expected the Fed to start cutting back on stimulus efforts. A flurry of better-than-expected economic reports in recent weeks ignited growing speculation that the tapering could begin this month.
Gold futures for February gained 0.4% to $1,235 per ounce on Wednesday, according to CME Group[2]. Gold traded as high as $1,244 and as low as $1,220. Bullion closed in London at $1,226, according to BullionVault[3].
Silver futures for March delivery climbed 1.1%, to $20.06 per ounce. Wednesday’s high for silver was $20.11, while the low was $19.80.
Metal funds sank on Wednesday.
- The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD[4]) fell 0.9%.
- The iShares Gold Trust (IAU[5]) slid 0.8%.
- The iShares Silver Trust (SLV[6]) dipped 0.3%.
Mining ETFs declined during the day.
- The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX[7]) dropped 1.6%.
- The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ[8]) slipped 0.9%.
- The Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL[9]) waned 1.3%.
Gold stocks mostly pulled back on Wednesday.
- Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM[10]) moved down 1.4%.
- Barrick Gold (ABX[11]) fell 1.7%.
- Eldorado Gold (EGO[12]) slumped 1.6%.
- Goldcorp (GG[13]) slipped 0.7%.
- Kinross Gold (KGC[14]) tumbled 2.2%.
- Newmont Mining (NEM[15]) rose 0.1%.
- NovaGold Resources (NG[16]) slid 1.3%.
- Yamana Gold (AUY[17]) dipped 0.5%.
Silver mining shares mostly retreated during the day.
- Coeur d’Alene Mines (CDE[18]) sank 1.9%.
- Hecla Mining (HL[19]) fell 2.2%.
- Pan American Silver (PAAS[20]) slipped 0.7%.
- Silver Wheaton (SLW[21]) dropped 1.9%.
- Silver Standard Resources (SSRI[22]) moved down 0.6%.
As of this writing, Christopher Freeburn did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault[23] contributed to this report.
- [Image]: https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PreciousMetalsRecap.gif
- CME Group: http://www.cmegroup.com
- BullionVault: http://www.bullionvault.com
- GLD: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GLD
- IAU: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=IAU
- SLV: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SLV
- GDX: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GDX
- GDXJ: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GDXJ
- SIL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SIL
- AEM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AEM
- ABX: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=ABX
- EGO: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=EGO
- GG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GG
- KGC: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=KGC
- NEM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=NEM
- NG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=NG
- AUY: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AUY
- CDE: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=CDE
- HL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=HL
- PAAS: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=PAAS
- SLW: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SLW
- SSRI: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SSRI
- BullionVault: http://www.bullionvault.com/
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