Gold trading closed for the day shortly before the FOMC announcement that the Fed forecast for 2013 growth had slipped, but that the central bank expects unemployment to reach a level around 6.5% next year while inflation remains firmly in check. The implication of the FOMC’s statement is that the Fed’s current asset purchases totaling $85 billion a month could begin to taper off.

Fearing that liquidity is about to be diminished and that inflation shows no sign at all of picking up, electronic trading in gold slipped from its closing price of $1,374.00 to $1,365.00 immediately following the FOMC announcement. Silver prices also fell by 0.7% and platinum dropped by 1.1%.

WTI crude traded nearly flat to its opening price following the announcement. A report earlier today on U.S. crude inventories showed a slight build in supplies.

While the signals for precious metals were weaker, the signals for oil are more mixed. Some of the investment in gold may have been moving into oil as signs multiplied that the global economy may be improving, even if slowly. But the lowered forecast for growth in the U.S. and the slowing growth in China could induce investors to seek something to replace oil.

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