Palladium plunged as much as 28% on Thursday as panic selling driven by intensifying fears over the coronavirus pandemic seeped into precious metals, with gold slumping 4% as investors rushed to cover margin calls in other assets.
Platinum plummeted more than 10% and silver shed nearly 7%.
"It is a rush to cash and a mild panic-type move. What we're seeing is market participants and investors indiscriminately selling every asset class," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
"People are selling gold and silver positions to finance equity positions or other situations," he added.
Global stock markets plunged into bear territory and oil slid more than 5% after US President Donald Trump banned travel from Europe to stem the spread of coronavirus, threatening more disruption to the world economy.
Auto-catalyst metal palladium led the bloodbath in the precious complex, diving to its lowest since October 2019 at $1,653.51 per ounce.
"Apart from the overall drop across precious metals, palladium's move was exacerbated by news earlier this week of a breakthrough in catalytic converter technology, allowing for less use of the metal, which had damaged overall sentiment," said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO.
The metal has shed more than 35% since hitting an all-time high of $2,875.50 on Feb. 27, as demand concerns begin to overshadow a sharp supply shortfall.
Spot gold, meanwhile, was down 2.6% at $1,592.61 per ounce by 02:10 p.m. EDT (1810 GMT). US gold futures settled 3.2% lower to $1,590.30.
Bullion has erased gains from a surge past the $1,700 per ounce level for the first time since late 2012 on Monday, when investors made a beeline for safe havens amid the rapid spread of the virus.
The pandemic has infected more than 121,000 people in 118 countries and killed over 4,300.
Further denting metals, the dollar gained 1.5%.
Silver fell 4.5% to $15.99 an ounce, its lowest since July 17.
Platinum lost 9.6% to $777.76, on track for its worst day since September 1986.
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