(Reuters) - Gold crashed more than $100 lower on Friday as a slide turned into a freefall, with weeks of volatility, renewed strength in the dollar and talk of hedge fund liquidation wrecking its safe-haven status. Widespread talk of possible selling by big hedge funds covering losses in other markets set off one of the biggest routs on record. Silver futures, which had attracted even more speculative funds over the past year, closed 18 percent down, the biggest daily loss since 1987. Mounting fears this week of a global recession and a deepening Greek debt crisis made investors treat precious metals like any commodity, ignoring the safe-haven appeal that had made them a must-have in times of trouble. ........................ Despite its steep losses this week, gold remained up 16 percent year-to-date, thanks to gains from earlier months. But silver turned negative, with the spot price down almost 1 percent for the year. NERVES JANGLED Two months of extraordinarily volatile trading as gold struggled to cling near a record above $1,900 an ounce has unnerved some investors who piled into bullion as a haven of stability in the face of euro zone turmoil and recession fear. But the risk-off trade that benefited gold most of this year abruptly disappeared over the past two weeks. Gold suddenly fell in tandem with stocks. "Gold's fall is a bit surprising. The fact that it has been so volatile lately is perhaps discouraging people from even buying the dips," said Peter Buchanan, senior economist at CIBC World Markets. The precious metal also began trading inversely to a newly resilient dollar, as some investors bet bullion had become overly inflated. A New York Times story about hedge funds likely liquidating some of their gold holdings after a year-long rally appeared to spur speculation that one specific manager had been selling, although there was no evidence to bear that out. The story did not name or cite any specific funds as behind the selling. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/23/us-markets-precious-idUSTRE78M11C20110923
THere you go SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The CME Group CME +0.00% , the parent company of the New York Mercantile Exchange, on Friday raised margin requirements for some gold, silver and copper futures contracts. Margins are money investors must put up to be able to trade and hold futures contracts. Initial requirements for gold's benchmark contract rose 21% to $11,475 per contract, from $9,450 and maintenance margins climbed to $8,500 from $7,000 per contract. Initial requirements for silver's benchmark contract rose 16% to $24,975 per contract, from $21,600 and maintenance margins climbed to $18,500 from $16,000 per contract. Initial requirements for copper's benchmark contract rose 18% to $6,750 per contract, from $5,738 and maintenance margins climbed to $5,000 from $4,250 per contract. In electronic trading on Globex, December gold GC1Z -4.68% was up 1.2% from the close of the regular session, December silver was up 3.6% and December copper HG1Z -4.89% added 1.2%. Metals sold off Friday, with gold losing more than $100 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cm...er-copper-2011-09-23?link=MW_home_latest_news
