Gold rose in Wednesday trading prior to the release of a closely watched statement from the Federal Reserve. At the conclusion of the Fed’s Open ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½s Committee Meeting, the central bank indicated that economic stimulus efforts will continue despite signs of economic growth.
However, at a press conference this afternoon, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that the central bank’s bond-buying could slow in coming months, and stocks and metal-related funds alike declined on the news.
While spot gold in U.S. trading fell off, gold futures for July delivery rose 0.5% to $1,373.70 per ounce on Wednesday, according to . Gold traded as high as $1,374.50 and as low as $1,363. Gold bullion closed in London at $1,361, according to BullionVault.
Silver futures for July delivery fell 0.2% to $21.62 per ounce. Wednesday’s high for silver was $21.85 while the low was $21.31.
Gold and silver funds declined in Wednesday trading.
- The SPDR Gold Trust () dropped 1.2%.
- The iShares Gold Trust () also fell 1.2%.
- The iShares Silver Trust () slumped 1.3%.
Gold and silver mining ETFs moved sharply lower during the day.
- The ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Vectors Gold Miners ETF () sank 3.1%.
- The ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF () slid 3.7%.
- The Global X Silver Miners ETF () dipped 3%.
Gold mining shares sank on Wednesday.
- Agnico-Eagle Mines () declined 2.3%.
- Barrick Gold () tumbled 4.7%.
- Eldorado Gold () slid 4.1%.
- Goldcorp () declined 2.5%.
- Kinross Gold () retreated 3.5%.
- Newmont Mining () fell 2.2%.
- NovaGold Resources () was unchanged.
- Yamana Gold () slumped 3.2%.
Silver mining shares retreated during the day.
- Coeur d’Alene Mines () dropped 2.2%.
- Hecla Mining () fell 2.8%.
- Pan American Silver () sank 3.1%.
- Silver Wheaton () moved down 2.4%.
- Silver Standard Resources () decreased 3.3%.
As of this writing, Christopher Freeburn did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of contributed to this report.
