Investors sell precious metals, prices drop

Prices of precious metals plummeted on Thursday as investors were forced to sell their metals in order to raise cash amid falling equities markets and a growing credit crisis.

December gold dropped $21.70 in New York to $658 per troy ounce, its biggest one-day percentage loss since the beginning of October 2006.

September silver prices fell $1.06 to $11.495 per troy ounce, a decline of 8.4 percent on the session.

Platinum and palladium were also both lower in New York, with October platinum dropping 3.3 percent or $41.50 to $1,230 per troy ounce and September palladium falling 4.5 percent, or $22.65, to $327.85 per troy ounce.