Gold fell to its lowest in nearly three months on Wednesday, sliding for a second straight session the day after minutes of the latest Federal Reserve policy meeting doused hopes for further US monetary stimulus. Bullion, tracking losses in equities and crude oil, posted its biggest two-day drop since February 29 and could test technical support near the December lows around $1,530 an ounce. The more thinly traded silver and platinum group metals markets also tumbled.
Gold has dropped 5 percent in the last six sessions. Spot gold was down 1.5 percent at $1,620.85 an ounce by 2:55 pm EDT (1855 GMT), having earlier touched a low of $1,611.80, its lowest since January 10. US gold futures for June delivery settled down $57.90 an ounce, or about 3.5 percent, at $1,614.10, with trading volume about 10 percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Spot silver was down 4.3 percent at $31.23 an ounce. Other precious metals were weaker across the board, with spot platinum down 2.4 percent at $1,594.99 an ounce, and spot palladium down 2.4 percent at $632.75 an ounce.