Gold dropped to stay below $1,400 on Thursday as mounting fears about a nuclear catastrophe in Japan prompted investors to sell bullion to cover losses in other markets, but a rise in ETF holdings suggested weaker prices had spurred buying interest.
Gold fell $6.60 to $1,392.70 an ounce by 0448 GMT. US gold futures for April lost $3.5 an ounce to $1,392.6 an ounce. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings edged up to 1,217.295 tonnes by March 16 from 1,212.745 tonnes by March 15, their lowest since May of last year.