US gold futures fell on Tuesday as fear of a potential radiation catastrophe in Japan hit world financial markets, prompting a flight to cash. COMEX April gold futures closed down $32.1 or 2.3 percent at $1,392.8 an ounce on the COMEX division of the NYMEX. Range ran from $1,429 to $1,380.70 an ounce - a one-month low.
Bullion was caught as a global equities rout wiped out about $650 billion in stock market valuations, as investors dumped assets considered risky and bought government debt. Total trade in COMEX futures rose to the highest since late January. Spot gold fell as low as $1,380.90 an ounce and was later down 2.3 percent at $1,394.10 an ounce by 2:54 pm EDT (1954 GMT), notching its biggest one-day loss in nearly 2 months.
COMEX May silver finished down $1.723 or 4.8 percent at $34.117 an ounce on profit taking. Range spanned $35.955 to $33.565 an ounce. Spot silver tumbled as much as 6 percent to a low of $33.56 an ounce, and was last down 4.2 percent at $34.33 an ounce.
NYMEX April platinum fell $46.7 or 2.7 percent to end at $1,705.6 an ounce. NYMEX June palladium finished down $43.30 or 5.8 percent at $704.90 an ounce, tracking palladium. Spot palladium fell as much as 7.5 percent to $684.50 an ounce, its fifth day of losses and its longest losing streak since early August. It later dropped 5.4 percent to $700.
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