US gold futures dropped over 3 percent to their lowest level in nearly a month Monday on heavy profit taking as the dollar rallied against the euro and crude oil prices tumbled, but chart-based support could help in the near term. Gold for February delivery dropped $31.50, or 3.7 percent, to $823.50 an ounce at 10:12 am EST (1512 GMT) on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The range spanned $857.50 to $821, which matched the low reached on December 15. Gold futures fell less than crude oil contracts, which tumbled nearly $3 to $38 per barrel. Gold/oil ratio rose to 21.6 on Monday from 21.2 on Friday. COMEX estimated 9:00 am volume at 63,891 lots, options turnover at 704 contracts. Spot gold was at $823.60 an ounce, down 3.5 percent compared with the last trade on Friday.
March silver slid 32.5 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $10.995 an ounce, following gold's weakness. The range was $10.775 to $11.300. COMEX estimated 9:00 am volume at 5,680 lots. Spot silver was quoted at $10.96 an ounce, down 2.5 percent from its previous session close. NYMEX April platinum tumbled $32.50, or 3.2 percent, to $973.00 an ounce on widespread selling of commodities across the board.
Spot platinum was quoted at $963.00 an ounce, down 3 percent from its last finish. NYMEX March palladium dropped $3.60, or 1.9 percent, to $188.30 an ounce as the market continued to consolidate after last week's sharp rally. Spot palladium was quoted at $185.50 an ounce, 2.9 percent lower than its previous close on Friday.