Gold fell by 1 percent on Thursday, pressured by earlier strength in equity markets on the back of a rally in oil prices, with bullion investors quick to cash in gains from the Wednesday's rally to 12-week highs. Spot gold was down 0.9 percent at $1,115.36 an ounce at 3:09 pm EST (2009 GMT), off a session low of $1,111.56. US gold futures for February delivery settled down 20 cents at $1,115.60 an ounce.
"The initial equity rally generated enough demand for riskier assets that it choked off the oxygen that gold needs to keep going higher," said James Steel, chief metals analyst for HSBC Securities in New York. "The FOMC was positive for gold but I don't think that necessarily carried into today's trading." Gold leapt to a 12-week high of $1,127.80 an ounce late on Wednesday after the Fed kept interest rates unchanged and said it was "closely monitoring" global economic and financial developments, while keeping an optimistic view of the US economy.
Spot silver was down 1.6 percent to $14.24 an ounce and platinum was down 1.9 percent at $863.31 an ounce. Palladium was down 1.8 percent at $488.20 an ounce. The official London benchmark price for silver settled on Thursday more than 80 cents below the spot price.