Gold price rallied $19.27 to $1,760.2 per ounce

The gold price rallied ahead of yesterday’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and maintained the majority of its gains following the FOMC announcement. There, the U.S. central bank reaffirmed its plans to leave the Fed funds rate near zero through mid-2013 and to proceed with Operation Twist. The Fed noted that “recent indicators point to continuing weakness in overall labor market conditions, and the unemployment rate remains elevated,” to help support its accommodative policies.

While the majority of the FOMC statement was quite similar to the prior one in September, one key difference was a dissenting vote from Chicago Fed President Charles Evans. Evans supported further monetary policy easing – which marked the Fed’s first “dovish dissent” in five years, according to BTIG chief global strategist Dan Greenhaus.

In addition to Evans’ dissent, another key difference was the absence of dissenting votes from Presidents Plosser, Fisher, and Kocherlakota. At the previous two FOMC meetings, these three central bankers each voted against Fed committing to its interest rate policy through mid-2013 and to implementing Operation Twist.

The gold price rallied $19.27 to $1,760.2 per ounce Friday morning after the European Central Bank (ECB) unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%. The price of gold traded modestly lower near $1,725 in overnight trading, but turned sharply higher as ECB President Mario Draghi – who took over for Jean-Claude Trichet earlier this week – wasted little time in providing a clear signal on the severity of the European sovereign debt crisis.