SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold lost some of its earlier momentum to snap a seven-day winning streak Wednesday, unable to defend its first foray above $1,300 an ounce since August.

Gold for February delivery US:GCG5 relinquished its earlier high to dip 50 cents to settle at $1,293.70 an ounce after settling at its highest price in five months Tuesday.

Despite Wednesday’s retreat, the precious metal is still up about 9% year to date.

March silver futures US:SIH5, meanwhile, advanced 24 cents, or 1.3%, to $18.19 an ounce in electronic trading.

News that the European Central Bank is proposing to buy about €50 billion in bonds each month as part of its quantitative easing program sparked profit-taking in gold, according to Kitco News.

Gold’s recent rally was fueled by investors seeking havens amid ongoing troubles in Ukraine, political uncertainty in Greece, turmoil triggered by the Swiss National Bank, and some bargain hunting on the heels of depressed prices at the end of 2014.

As for technicals:

In the near term, gold’s upside potential is limited. “If the ECB’s likely stimulatory actions cause risk assets to surge higher on Thursday, demand for safe-haven assets such as gold could fall back,” said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com.

In other metals, platinum for April delivery US:PLJ5 fell $10.20 to $1,276.40 an ounce, while palladium for March delivery US:PAH5 dropped $10.50 to $768.25 an ounce.

High-grade copper for March delivery US:HGH5 rose 2 cents to settle at $2.61 a pound.