Gold Sliding From 25 Year High

Gold futures lost almost $10 an ounce Wednesday after trading a 25 years highs in the past two sessions.

Gold for February delivery fell $9.80 to finish at $544.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, marking its lowest closing level since Jan. 6.

Prices touched a low of $543.30 earlier, the lowest since Thursday on an intraday basis. Prices climbed to a 25-year intraday high of $561.50 on Tuesday.

Prices found some support around the $545 level, said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com in London, and support below that level stands at $535/$525.

Still, " the tone remains firmly bullish for the moment as rising oil cost and geopolitical concerns heighten gold's 'safe-haven' as well as investment appeal," he said in a note to clients.

The gold market was also caught up in the turmoil in the Japanese stock market, where trading ended before its regularly-scheduled close as a flood of sell orders threatened to overwhelm the Tokyo Stock Exchange's systems.