US gold futures on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange sank to a 10-week low on Tuesday, and other precious metals also fell sharply, hit by a rising dollar in a broad commodities sell-off. Gold futures tumbled by de-leveraging across all commodities amid a stock market rally.
Dollar's sharp gains and crude oil weakness triggered a heavy sell-off of gold by investment funds. June gold dropped $43.80, or 4.8 percent, to $877.70 an ounce at 10:35 am EDT (1435 GMT), trading from $925.70 to $876.30 - the lowest level since January 23. Negative gold lease rate signalled possible central bank selling, taking a toll on buying sentiment, traders said.
A recent sharp drop of open interest indicates massive long liquidation. Gold could fall further in the near term as buying was largely absent even at lower prices, traders added. Comex estimated 9 am volume at 91,374 lots. Spot gold last quoted at $873.70/874.40, compared with $916.20/917.00 at the close Monday. London afternoon gold fix was $887.75 an ounce.
July platinum futures plummeted $144.60, or 7.1 percent, to $1,898.80 an ounce. Earlier, it had touched a one-week low of $1,887. Spot platinum traded at $1,888/1,898 an ounce. June palladium fell $23.65, or 5.3 percent, to $426.55 an ounce.
Spot palladium fetched $425/433 an ounce. May silver tracked gold's decline to fall 76.0 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $16.550 an ounce. It had bottomed at $16.30, a 9-week low. Spot silver at $16.36/16.41 an ounce, lower than Monday's late quote at $17.27/17.32.
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