Gold and Silver Fall After QE4 Announcement

On Thursday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for February delivery, the most active contract, declined $21.10 to settle at $1,696.80 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for March dropped $1.43 to close at $32.36.

Both precious metals suffered a pullback, despite the Federal Reserve announcing QE4  on Wednesday. The central bank said it will purchase $45 billion in long-term Treasuries each month, in addition to its previously announced QE-to-infinity-and-beyond that buys $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month.

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However, the lower prices are likely to attract gold bulls in various parts of the world. “Participants, especially in India and the Far East, are drawn in by the lower prices,” explained Marc Ground, a commodities strategist with Standard Bank, according to WSJ. “For Indian buyers in particular, this lower gold price has relieved some of the pressure of a weaker rupee and a higher interest rate environment-prompting them to return to the market, after being noticeably reticent this past year.”

By the end of the day, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) closed 0.84 percent lower, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) fell 2.59 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) and Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) both declined more than 2 percent. Meanwhile, Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) and Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) plunged 3.13 percent and 4.06 percent, respectively.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS