The Bank of Japan has stated that it will pursue stimulus measures, buying up some $146 billion in assets per month starting January 2014 and continuing until inflation closes in on 2 percent.
The news sent February gold futures up 0.4 percent to touch $1,693.20/oz on Tuesday afternoon. Over last year, gold bullion gained a total of 7 percent on the stimulus actions undertaken by banks across Europe, the U.S., and Japan.
Bloomberg reports:
“This is definitely bullish for gold,” James Cordier, the founder of Optionsellers.com in Tampa, Florida, said in a telephone interview.
Meanwhile, India, which was the largest gold buyer over 2011, has raised import duties on gold and platinum, going to 6 percent from its previous level of 4 percent. That’s likely to slow down gold consumption at least somewhat.
