Gold futures slid below $1,700 U.S. an ounce on Friday, losing more than 4% as turmoil in global financial markets continued and investors rushed to sell metals positions to raise cash.
Gold for December delivery lost $70.40, or 4%, to trade at $1,670.40 U.S. an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A close at these levels would be gold’s lowest since early August. Gold lost 3.7% in Thursday’s session, the first full trading day after the Federal Reserve announced a plan to swap $400 billion U.S. in debt to try to help the American economy.
Many investors deemed the plan insufficient and reacted by dumping stocks, commodities and other assets perceived as riskier as they dashed for cash and Treasurys.
Friday’s metals selloff extended to December silver, trading down $3.77, or 10%, to $32.81 U.S. an ounce, and December copper, which shed 14 cents, or 4.2%, to $3.34 U.S. a pound.
The losses came as finance ministers and central bankers of the Group of 20 most developed economies said Thursday they would coordinate action in a bid to stop Europe’s financial crisis.
The selloff also came amid speculation that Greece is readying for a default and that Greek bondholders would be looking at a 50% haircut in an "orderly" default, Greek newspapers reported Friday.
Gold and other metals failed to catch any safe-haven interest from the reports, however.
Related Stories
