Silver Caps Best Rally Since 2011 as the Fed seems in no hurry to end stimulus

New York (Feb 12)  Silver futures for delivery in March rose 0.9 percent to $20.341 an ounce. The metal posted an eighth consecutive advance, the longest streak since April 2011.

Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen said yesterday that while the recovery in the U.S. labor market is “far from complete,” stimulus would be cut in “measured steps.” Bullion rose 70 percent from December 2008 to June 2011 as the Fed pumped more than $2 trillion into the financial system.

“Bullard and Yellen made it clear that the Fed is not in a hurry to end stimulus,” Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Archer Financial Services in Chicago, said in telephone interview. “Continued injection of easy money into the system is helping gold.”

The Fed cut monthly bond buying by $10 billion at each of its past two meetings, leaving purchases at $65 billion. Yellen repeated yesterday the central bank’s statement that asset purchases aren’t on a “pre-set course.” The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a measure against 10 major currencies, was little changed after reaching a four-week low today. Global equities climbed.

(Source:  Bloomberg)