US gold futures dropped below $800 an ounce and other precious metals plunged in volatile trade on Thursday as commodity funds and investors dumped liquid assets and opted for cash amid heightened uncertainty in global markets. December gold settled down $34.50, or 4.1 percent, at $804.50 an ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold futures open interest down 2,085 lots to 321,411 lots as of October 15. COMEX estimated 1:00 pm volume at 138,174 lots. Spot gold was at $801.10/804.10 an ounce at 2:00 pm EDT (1800 GMT), down 5.6 percent from Wednesday's nominal close of $848.00. Silver tumbled below $10 an ounce. December silver ended down 54.50 cents, or 5.4 percent, at $9.635 an ounce, near a contract low.
Spot silver at $9.62/9.72, down 6 percent from Wednesday's nominal close of $10.23. NYMEX January platinum down $83.90, or 8.6 percent, at $891.30 an ounce, extending Wednesday's losses. Buyers were largely absent in PGM futures market as big firms were pulling out of commodities and opted for cash - Adam Rabinowitz at RJ Futures. Spot platinum at $872.00/892.00. December palladium down $22.50, or 11.5 percent, at $173.10 an ounce, after hitting a contract low of $165.05 an ounce. Spot palladium at $168.50/176.50.
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