Gold Drops Below $1,000 an Ounce, Silver Down Slightly

Gold dropped Monday to below $1,000 an ounce, after breaking through the barrier on Friday for the first time since March 2008. New York silver, gold and platinum futures declined 0.3 percent, 0.7 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. Oil fell 4.0 percent while the Dow and S&P 500 hit lows not seen since 1997.

April crude-oil lost $1.59 to close at $38.44 a barrel. The average price for regular unleaded gasoline fell seven-tenths of cent to $1.910 a gallon, according to AAA.

March silver declined 4 cents to close to $14.45 an ounce.

April platinum fell $16.20 to $1,079.50 an ounce

Gold for April delivery dropped $7.20 to end at $995.00 an ounce.

"Gold is about the only commodity that’s going higher," Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, was quoted on Bloomberg.com. "There’s a lack of confidence in paper assets. Right now, the gold ETF is getting a lot of capital that would normally go to a bank or equities. There’s a perception that gold is going to hold its value."

"While the trade does not appear to have soured on the metal just yet, it did take notice of embryonic signs that risk appetite might be starting a revival, and that it could at least partially result in a shift over to equities in the wake of their recent battering," said Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Bullion Dealers.

Gold, considered a hedge during times of high inflation and economic uncertainty, tends to follow oil and move opposite to the U.S. dollar. A rising greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities, like bullion, more expensive for holders of other world currencies.

In spot trading, the London afternoon gold-fixing price — a benchmark for gold traded directly between big institutions — stood at $985.75 an ounce. London silver and platinum were at $14.36 and $1,074.00, respectively.

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