Gold Price Firm, Japan Expands QE by ¥11 Trillion

GOLD PRICE NEWS – The price of gold continued to hold near $1,710 per ounce for the second straight day as U.S. financial markets remained closed due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy.  The spot gold price did advance, however, from an overnight low of $1,705.34 to as high as $1,715.69 earlier this morning before parings its gains.

The rise in gold prices was driven in part by the Bank of Japan (BOJ), which announced plans to expand its quantitative easing program by ¥11 trillion, or approximately $139 billion, to ¥66 trillion.  The increase was roughly in-line with the level economists were expecting.

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The Japanese central bank will also establish a new loan program to provide banks with unlimited amounts of cheap, long-term funding.  In addition, the BOJ took a page out of the Federal Reserve’s book by committing to maintain its easing measures until inflation in Japan climbed to at least 1.0%.

BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa noted that escalating risks of a global recession impacted the central banks’ decision to launch the latest accommodative monetary policies.  In comments following the BOJ’s meeting, Shirakawa stated that “We were aware of the global slowdown in September. But developments since then have shown that the slowdown was in fact deepening.”

Silver turned higher alongside the price of gold after the Bank of Japan’s announcement, from an overnight low of $31.72 to as high as $32.15 per ounce earlier this morning.  As for gold and silver stocks, while U.S. equities did not trade, Canadian exchanges were once again open.  The S&P/TSX Global Gold Index – Canada’s leading basket of precious metals companies – built on yesterday’s 0.8% rally by adding another 0.3% to 339.66.

Notable gold and silver miners in the black included Eldorado Gold (ELD.TSX), Kinross Gold (K.TSX), and Pan American Silver (PAA.TSX).  ELD.TSX rose by 0.9% to C$14.11, K.TSX by 0.6% to C$9.83, and PAA.TSX by 1.2% to C$21.07 per share.

As for the broader equity markets, most exchanges across Asia finished lower on Tuesday, highlighted by the Nikkei 225’s 1.0% decline to 8,841.98.  However, European markets turned sharply higher, with Germany’s DAX rising 0.9% to 7,269.61 and France’s CAC Index climbing 1.3% to 3,453.31.  U.S. equity market futures also headed north, as the S&P 500 Index futures added 0.3% to 1,411.25.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq each stated that they intend to reopen on Wednesday – although plans could change depending on the remaining severity of Hurricane Sandy.