Fed stands pat, but some analysts say gold gains may be short-lived

By Myra P. Saefong and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rallied Thursday to score their best daily dollar and percentage gains since 2009 after the Federal Reserve’s surprise move to maintain its bond purchases.

December gold GCZ3 +4.64%  jumped $61.70, or 4.7%, to settle at $1,369.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, their highest close since Sept. 9.

On a dollar and percentage basis, the gains were the largest for a single session sinceMarch 19, 2009, according to FactSet data, based on the most-active contracts. Interestingly, the gain that day was also Fed-induced. The daily dollar rise Thursday was also the third largest on record, based on FactSet data that go back to November 1984.

Silver SIZ3 +7.66%  fared even better percentage wise, with its December contract shooting up 8%, or $1.73, to $23.29 an ounce, for its highest close in over a week. The daily percentage gain was also the largest since March 19, 2009.

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