Gold prices on Thursday fell by more than 1% after the U.S. Federal Reserve on the eve of their policies linked to the level of unemployment. Gold futures ended the session on Wednesday, the highest level in more than a week after the Federal Reserve announced a new program of bond purchases, which, according to investors and analysts, can accelerate inflation.

Dollar rises on Thursday, as investors digested the news from the Federal Reserve and decided to take profits, eliminating the "short" dollar positions.

Virtually all indicators released today from the U.S. disappointed analysts, and only business inventories coincided with forecasts of economists, reaching 0.4%. In general, U.S. data was worse than expected: PPI (y / y) declined from 2.3% to 1.5% (forecast 1.8%), while retail sales (m / m) in November rose by 0.3% vs. 0 5%.

Investors paid attention to the eurozone leaders to take stock and analyze the achievements of the year. The ECB has recently landed the role of the supervisory authority over banks in the region, while Greece was approved the next tranche of € 34.4 billion French President Hollande praised Monti for his role in the fate of Italy and the contribution to the June summit. Merkel and Juncker also endorsed the decisions taken this week.

February futures price of gold on COMEX today fell to 1690.70 dollars per ounce.