Gold Surges After Central Banks Vow Fresh Liquidity

Gold shot higher Wednesday after the world's top central banks launched a coordinated plan to provide liquidity to struggling Eurozone banks and China did likewise for its banks.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central bank, and the central banks of Canada, England, Japan and Switzerland said that starting Monday they will slash the cost of existing dollar swap lines by half a percentage point and keep the rate at that level through Feb. 1, 2013.

The People's Bank of China said that starting Monday its reserve requirement ratio would be cut by 0.5 percent.

Besides the prospect of more liquidity starting next week, precious metals gained from a weaker dollar, which was down at one point 1.2 percent against a basket of major rivals, though in recent trading it was off 0.8 percent.

Interest on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds rose to 2.06 percent, indicating bond prices were falling since bond prices and bond interest rates move in opposite directions.

Good U.S. economic news also supported gold prices. Automatic Data Processing said U.S. employers last month created the most jobs since December 2010, topping expectations. The National Association of Realtors said October pending home sales rose 10.5 percent to its highest level in 11 months, also topping expectations.

A generally rising commodities sector also gave gold a lift. West Texas Intermediate crude oil topped $100 per 42-gallon barrel, and copper on the Comex rocketed up nearly six percent.

Gold rose with other risky assets, including U.S. stocks. In late afternoon trading the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 386.59, or 3.4 percent, to 11,942.22, the Nasda Composite increased 78.87, or 3.1 percent, to 2,594.38 and the S&P 500 picked up 38.55, or 3.2 percent, to 1,233.74.

Comex gold, which has now risen 4.4 percent since Monday, climbed $31.40 to $1,750.30, while gold for immediate delivery rose $4.60 to $1,746.93.

Silver for March delivery added 85 cents to $32.80, while silver for immediate delivery was up 41 cents to $32.77.