Gold Tumbled Sharply, Dealers Arguing

Gold futures plunged sharply Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange?s Comex division after wholesale fund long liquidation and bullion bank selling sparked by the overnight reversal seen in the U.S. dollar rally. Dealers name also weak economic data from Japan overnight and report about Russia?s possible restructuring of its foreign exchange reserves as reasons of gold price fall.

The most active February contract (100 ounces each) settled $15 lower at
$438.70 per ounce.

Some dealers stay cool-heaed: Larry Young, senior precious metals trader with Infinity Brokerage in Chicago, said: "This was mainly a reactionary day. It all started overnight as the U.S. dollar rallied and the Australian dealers started selling."

Young stressed that the price weakness is merely a correction within a continuing long-term uptrend in the gold market.