What gold bulls feared the most -- the end of the U.S. zero-rate era -- wound up bringing some relief as traders backed away from bearish bets on metal.

A put giving owners the right to sell January futures at $1,000 an ounce, the most-traded option on Wednesday, plunged 46 percent after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in almost a decade. Gold prices held earlier gains after the Fed announcement.

Bullion is headed for a third straight annual loss as signs of a strengthening U.S. labor market boosted speculation that the central bank would tighten monetary policy. Higher rates generally cut the appeal of metals, which don’t pay interest like competing assets. With gold near the cheapest since 2010, some traders say prices may be near a bottom as the focus shifts to the timing of the next rate increase.

“The sentiment has shifted for gold,” Bob Haberkorn, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “Now that we’re past the hike news, the downside is limited and the market is reflecting that. I think we’ve seen the bottom in this market.”

Gold for immediate delivery climbed 1 percent to settle at $1,072.32 an ounce in New York. Prices dropped seven of the past eight weeks as improving economic data boosted the U.S. dollar, curbing the appeal of the metal as an alternative asset.

More than 2,200 contracts exchanged hands for the $1,000 January put. The second-most traded option was a call giving the right to buy January futures for $1,100, which rose 50 percent, followed by February $1,000 put that slid 37 percent.

The Bloomberg Americas Mining Index of 22 producers climbed 2.5 percent, led by Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc., based in Vancouver.

Even with the gain on Wednesday, there are few drivers to propel gold much higher, said Donald Selkin, who helps manage $3 billion as chief market strategist at National Securities Corp. in New York.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said policy makers don’t intend to follow a “mechanical formula,” and that further increases will remain data-dependent. “Equally-spaced” rate rises are unlikely, she said at press conference from Washington on Wednesday.

“Until something changes from what we know today about the likely path of interest rates, we don’t think there’s a whole lot more downside room for gold to trade lower on the perception of rates,” Katrina Lamb, the head of investment strategy and research at Bethesda, Maryland-based MV Financial overseeing $500 million, said in a telephone interview. “We think that probably most of the negative sentiment on gold has already been built in.”