COMEX gold fell below $400 on Friday, unable to retain its safe-haven gains a day after Spain suffered its bloodiest day of terror.
Spanish authorities said they were following every lead to hunt down those behind the 10 orchestrated bombings that killed 198 and wounded more than 1,400 on commuter trains in Madrid on Thursday.
April gold at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT) was down $5 at $396.00 an ounce, trading from $403.90 to $395.80.
Spot gold was indicated at $395.90/6.60, down from $402.25/3.00 late Thursday. London bullion dealers fixed Friday morning's reference price at $400.75.
One floor broker said he expected more stop-loss selling of gold if prices move below $397.00.
May silver tapped a new 16-year continuation high at $7.29 overnight before reversing to stand 14.3 cents lower at $7.05 an ounce, near a low of $7.01.
The gold/silver ratio rose back above 56 on Friday, bouncing off the 55.5 area which some traders pegged as a technical target for the decline from 70 at the start of the year.
Spot silver traded at $6.99/7.02, off from $7.15/18 Thursday night. The fix was at $7.205.
NYMEX April platinum was $5.70 higher at $908.50 an ounce. Spot was quoted at $907.00/912.00. June palladium was up $2.15 at $280.00 an ounce, hitting a new contract high at $284.00. Spot fetched $277.00/282.00.