Gold prices pushed lower after suffering their steepest drop in more than ten years, while silver sank even further, marking a dramatic reversal from a surge that had lifted both metals to historic highs.
In early Asian trading on Monday, gold slid as much as 6%, while silver tumbled nearly 12%, after violent swings that briefly saw the metal bounce before resuming its fall. The previous session had already delivered silver’s sharpest single-day decline on record.
The downturn gathered pace following Friday’s market rout, with a stronger US dollar and widespread profit-taking draining momentum from what had been a red-hot rally in precious metals.
Gold was trading around $4,611 an ounce, down roughly 5% on the day, after collapsing close to 10% on Friday when prices broke below the $5,000 mark.
Silver, which had soared alongside gold on safe-haven demand and heavy speculative buying, remained under intense pressure after plunging about 30% late last week — its worst session since 1980.
