The cost of gold has declined substantially, falling at the same time below $ 1,300 per ounce, which was the first time in nearly three years, as traders rushed to sell gold, after the Federal Reserve hinted at a possible decrease in the volume of its asset-purchase program.

Recall that yesterday the chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke said that the U.S. Federal Reserve may begin to reduce the volume of quantitative easing (QE) later this year if the country's economic recovery will continue at the pace at which the central bank expects. According to him, the decline in purchases in one month does not mean that the Fed will not be able to increase it in the next month, if the data is worse. Perhaps the Fed will stop buying government bonds at about the same time when the unemployment rate to reach 7%, but this is only a guideline, not a hard and a guide to action, Bernanke added. Meanwhile, Ben Bernanke at a news conference he tried to separate the reduction in the purchase of assets from higher short-term interest rates, as many economists expected. He stressed that the rate increase will not happen immediately, even after achieving the stated macroeconomic thresholds in December (including the unemployment rate of 6.5%) - the Fed wants to ensure sustainability of recovery.

Note that since the beginning of 2013, gold was dumped at the price of 22% due to the financial policy of the United States, aimed at the gradual reduction of the volume of stimulation.

The cost of the August gold futures on COMEX today fell to 1299.60 dollars an ounce.