Gold prices climbed after the Federal Reserve decided not to raise interest rates Thursday, upholding an almost-ten-year streak of holding interest rates near zero.
After the announcement, gold prices rose $1,131.20 per troy ounce, according to the Wall Street Journal. In recent months, gold hit five-year lows as Wall Street expected the Fed to raise rates. Gold doesn’t pay interest–a characteristic that would drive away investors if rates rose.
Since April 2013, more than $53 billion has been wiped from the value of securities backed by gold, according to Bloomberg. As the economy rebounded and the unemployment rate rate dropped, many investors started to anticipate a rate hike.