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Who said the gold rally is dead?
The SPDR Gold Shares Trust, the largest exchange-traded product dedicated to the precious metal, jumped 2.72% yesterday, its largest one-day move since Jan. 3.
Gold bugs should thank the Fed.
Gold had gained 8% from Dec. 29 through Jan. 24, helped along by a less-panicked market and the actions of the European Central Bank, which has undertaken policy that looks a heck of a lot like quantitative easing.
It got a further boost yesterday, as the Fed returned the mantel of easiest monetary policy to where it belongs – the U.S.A. It announced that it expects interest rates to stay low through 2014, and hinted that it may be prepared to expand its bond purchases. That put the focus back on the dollar, which dropped more than 1% intraday.
When investors think central banks are debasing their own currencies, they flock to hard assets – especially gold. Unless Greece really does have a hard default, don’t expect this rally to end anytime soon.
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Total Return covers the latest personal-finance and investing news and trends, helping readers make sensible money decisions in a complex financial world. Send your comments, feedback and questions to totalreturn@wsj.com.
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