Gold & Silver End Weds Higher as Fed Holds Rates at Zero

From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek...

Gold rose about 1% in London on Wednesday and then climbed even higher in midmorning New York trade, reaching as high as $1139.15 by 10:00 EST before it fell back off into the close.

The Gold Price in Dollars still ended with a gain of 1.2% on the day. The Gold Price in Euros rose above €780.

Silver climbed as high as $17.75 before it also fell back off in the last few hours of trade, but it still ended with a gain of 1.5%.

After hours access trade after the Federal Reserve's "no change" announcement on US interest rates was mixed but mostly higher for the two precious metals.

The Fed kept interest rates in its recent 0.00-0.25% range as expected. The only change in their statement is that they see weakness in the job market "abating".

New US data meantime showed Building Permits rising faster than forecast, while House Starts also rose, right in line with analysts' expectations.

US Consumer Prices added 0.4% in November, but excluding energy and food they held flat.

Platinum gained $6 on Wednesday to $1446 an ounce, and copper gained over 6 cents to almost $3.19.

Gold Mining and silver equities rose over 2% at the open and remained near their highs for most of the morning before they dipped slightly after the Fed announcement, but they still ended with over 1% gains.

Oil climbed almost 3% to over $72 after the Energy Information Administration reported that crude inventories fell a larger than expected 3.7 million barrels, gasoline inventories rose 900,000 barrels, and distillates fell 2.9 million barrels.

The US Dollar index reversed notable early losses and ended only slightly lower while Treasuries reversed early gains and ended with minor losses after the Fed statement, thanks to increased speculation that they may indeed be starting to move towards raising interest rates around the middle of next year.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose in morning trade, erasing most of their gains following the Fed news.

Thursday at 8:30AM EST brings Initial Jobless Claims for 12/12 expected at 465,000 and at 10AM are Leading Economic Indicators for November expected at 0.7% and the Philadelphia Fed for December expected at 16.0.

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