By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch

Metals futures in broad retreat, paced by platinum

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Gold futures dropped 2% on Tuesday, extending their sharp losses from the previous session, as strength in the U.S. dollar weighed on the precious metal.

Gold for June delivery tumbled $19.70, or 2%, to $901.80 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Other metals futures were also sharply lower, with platinum particularly weak.

Gold’s suffering a “breakdown” and has confirmed a series of lower lows and reinforced the bearish trend,” said analysts at Action Economics.
“Flight-to-quality trading may still provide some support on dips, but the technical picture coupled with expectations of a slowdown in global growth should lower physical demand ahead,” they said.

Culminating a tumultuous quarter, the benchmark gold contract lost $15, or 1.6%, to end Monday’s trading back at $921.50 an ounce.
For March as a whole, gold futures lost $50.60 — a drop of 5.2%. But for the first quarter, the precious metal still gained $86.60 an ounce, a 10.3% increase.
“Given gold’s recent movements, the yellow metal will remain vulnerable to selling pressure in the coming sessions,” said James Moore, analyst at TheBullionDesk.com.

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