11 Mar 2009

Gold tumbles in price

10:41 am on 11 March 2009

Gold prices have fallen below $US900 an ounce for the first time in a month.

A sharp rally in global stock markets has prompted investors to switch from the metal.

The S&P 500 index rose nearly 6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 350 points.

At 3.36pm EDT (1936 GMT) on Tuesday, spot gold was at $US897.30 per ounce - down 2.2% from $US920.95 in New York late on Monday.

US gold futures for April delivery settled down $US22.10, or 2.4%, at $US895.90 per ounce on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Among other precious metals: spot silver was at $US12.61 per ounce, down 2.4% from $US12.92 on Monday.

Spot platinum was at $US1,040.00 per ounce, down 1.7% from its previous close of $US1,058.

Spot palladium was at $US194.50 per ounce, up 0.3% from $US194 in New York late on Monday.