Daily Gold Update

Source: Marketwatch

New York— Gold futures fell 3.2% on Thursday as they joined stocks and other commodities on a broad market sell-off and selling begat selling in thin trading ahead of the long weekend. Gold for August delivery dropped $39.20 to $1,206.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was gold's biggest one-day drop since February 4, when it lost 4.4%. September silver retreated 92 cents, or 4.9%, to $17.79 an ounce. It was silver's largest one-session decrease since May 4, when the metal lost 5.3%.

Gold's steep declines left investors scratching heads. None of the flight-to-quality buying that usually lavishes gold when macroeconomic headlines turn gloomy was seen on Thursday – when a stream of negative reports on the economy prompted precipitous drops for equities, oil prices, and, in later part of the trading day, U.S. Treasurys. Treasurys had taken gold's mantle as safe-haven of choice. The euro, however, rallied to $1.249 in recent action, up from $1.224 in North American trading late Wednesday. See full story.