Gold fell sharply in Wednesday trading as investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½s Committee Meeting. When the Fed issued a statement at the meeting’s conclusion, gold futures fell even further in after-hours trading. U.S. equities markets also moved lower.
In a widely-expected move, the Fed said it would cut its monthly bond-buying by another $10 billion, down to $55 billion. However, the central bank surprised many on Wall Street by raising its forecast for short-term interest rates in 2015 and 2016. The Fed also abandoned its 6.5% unemployment rate threshold for the first interest rate hike.
Gold futures for April delivery slid 1.3% to $1,341.30 per ounce on Wednesday, according to . Gold traded as high as $1,360.20 and as low as $1,331.40. Bullion closed in London at $1,328, according to .
Silver futures for May delivery dipped 0.2% to $20.83 per ounce. Wednesday’s high for silver was $20.97, while the low was $20.53.
Metal funds declined on Wednesday.
- The SPDR Gold Shares () sank 1.9%.
- The iShares Gold Trust () fell 1.9%.
- The iShares Silver Trust () slipped 1.2%.
Mining ETFs retreated during the day.
- The ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Vectors Gold Miners ETF () dropped 3.7%.
- The ÃÛÌÒ´«Ã½ Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF () tumbled 5%.
- The Global X Silver Miners ETF () declined 3.7%.
Gold stocks sank on Wednesday.
- Agnico-Eagle Mines () slid 3.3%.
- Barrick Gold () dropped 4.1%.
- Eldorado Gold () tumbled 6.9%.
- Goldcorp () moved down 3.5%.
- Kinross Gold () decreased 3.4%.
- Newmont Mining () faded 3%.
- NovaGold Resources () fell back 3.5%.
- Yamana Gold () fell 4.2%.
Silver mining shares pulled back during the day.
- Coeur d’Alene Mines () fell 2.8%.
- Hecla Mining () slid 3.5%.
- Pan American Silver () declined 3.4%.
- Silver Wheaton () faded 3.1%.
- Silver Standard Resources () dropped 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.
