Gold drops nearly $7 per troy ounce

Metals prices were down in early afternoon trade in New York on Tuesday. June gold dropped $6.70 to $687.50 per troy ounce, while May sliver fell by 27 cents to $13.78 per troy ounce. Platinum was $20.20 lower to trade at $1,311.50 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, copper fell 8 cents to $3.56 per pound.