Gold price held steady near $1,699 per ounce Wednesday morning

The gold price held steady near $1,699 per ounce Wednesday morning as euro zone sovereign debt concerns continued to be at the forefront of financial headlines. The price of gold climbed to as high as over $1,700 in overnight trading, but pared its gains as the U.S. dollar rebounded against a basket of foreign currencies. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), a proxy for the gold price and the world’s largest gold ETF, traded near unchanged at $161.01 per share.

The rally in gold came despite two key factors that have kept a lid on the gold sector in recent weeks: a broad-based sell-off in equities and strength in the U.S. dollar. Today’s action has been more reminiscent of how the sector performed in August, when gold stocks finally began to outperform the price of gold on the upside. While one day does not make a trend, today’s developments are an encouraging sign for a sector that has faced considerable selling pressure since the middle of September.

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