Gold drops significantly on stronger dollar

Precious metals prices were lower on Thursday afternoon in New York. Gold dropped substantially, falling $9.40 to $678.00 per troy ounce as the US dollar strengthened. Silver was 40 cents lower to $13.46 per troy ounce, while platinum dropped $13.60 to $1,303.60 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, zinc was 0.7 percent lower to $3,730 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. Still, zinc prices are expected to stay above averages on growing demand and diminishing inventories. Copper was also lower, dropping 2.3 percent to $7,690 per tonne even though LME stockpiles were 2,025 tonnes lower on the session. Analysts attributed the selling to profit taking as copper was unable to sustain prices above the $8,000 per tonne level that was reached recently.