Gold fell more than 2 percent in a second straight decline on Wednesday, hit by technical selling and investors quitting bullion trades a day after the Federal Reserve upgraded its US economic outlook and offered few clues on further easing. The 5 percent or $80 per ounce slide over two days has removed the premium gold enjoyed based on expectations of further US monetary easing to stimulate the economy.
The precious metal has now erased gains made since late January when the Fed said it would keep interest rates for the next several years. Gold is down almost 9 percent since late February.
Spot gold was down 2.4 percent at $1,634.39 an ounce by 3:21 pm EDT (1921 GMT), having hit a low of $1,634.09 - its lowest since January 16. US April gold futures settled down $51.30 at $1,642.90 an ounce. Trading volume was 70 percent above its 30-day average, set to be one of the busiest days in the past six months. Platinum was last down 1.2 percent at $1,661.49 an ounce, while palladium fell 1.4 percent to $690.