US gold futures ended nearly 2 percent lower to two-month lows on Thursday due to technical selling and as worries over further monetary tightening in China triggered a commodities rout. COMEX February gold futures settled down $23.7 or 1.7 percent at $1,346.5 an ounce on the COMEX division of the NYMEX.
Ranged from $1,342.40 - a two-month low - to $1,370.90 an ounce. In the short term, flood of money into the gold due to the European crisis has subsided somewhat, said James Dailey, portfolio manager of the Team Asset Strategy Fund. COMEX gold futures volume at 270,000 lots, 70 percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.
Spot gold fell as low as $1,342.65 an ounce, its weakest since November 19. It slipped 1.4 percent to $1,350.90 by 2:15 pm EST (1915 GMT). London afternoon gold fix at $1,345.50 an ounce. COMEX March silver ended down $1.328 or 4.6 percent at $27.473 an ounce on gold's sell-off and heavy selling by investors in exchange traded funds.
Silver dropped 3.9 percent to $27.66 an ounce. NYMEX April platinum finished down $19.5 or 1.1 percent at $1,818.6 an ounce in a broad commodities decline. Spot platinum lost 0.9 percent to $1,815 an ounce. NYMEX March palladium closed up $3.90 at $815.85 an ounce on bargain hunting after recent decline. Spot palladium inched up 0.2 percent to $813.22.