Gold posted its biggest one-day loss since 2008 on Thursday, hitting a three-month low as a wave of risk aversion swept through global markets, triggering massive technical selling in the metal. Bullion tumbled more than 4 percent in heavy trade, briefly falling below $1,060 an ounce as escalating sovereign debt fears in Europe prompted investors to bid up the dollar and unload riskier assets.
Other precious metals also fell. Silver slid nearly 7 percent to its lowest since September, platinum dropped more than 4 percent and palladium fell 6 percent. Scott Meyers, senior analyst at Pioneer Futures, a unit of MF Global, said gold has slid below technical support levels. "There is not a lot of technical support in gold right now. It is more of a function of how the market reacts to whatever stimulus is forcing the market lower right now," Meyers said. Risk-averse economic sentiment pummeled world stock markets, pressuring gold, oil and other commodities.
Spot gold hit a low of $1,059.10 an ounce, the weakest since November 3. It was last at $1,064.30 an ounce at 4:07 p.m. EST, sharply lower than $1,108.85 late on Wednesday.
