GOLD futures declined on liquidation pressure as equities and oil came down and market uncertainty eased after US elections.
December gold fell $US14.90, or nearly 2 per cent, to settle at $US742.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The metal was facing liquidation on relief that the elections were over and as flight-to-quality buying abated, said Michael Gross, broker and futures analyst with OptionSellers.com.
Positions accumulated in the speculative buying that boosted the metal ahead of the election were being liquidated as certainty emerges, he said.
Declines in oil and equities also weighed on gold while US dollar weakness wasn't enough to keep the metal afloat.
As gold floor-trading was closing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 290.56 points, Nymex December crude was down $US4.48 a barrel and the ICE Futures US dollar index was off more than 0.37 per cent.
After initial support from a weaker US dollar following the election, the metal began facing "renewed liquidation pressure" on wider economic concerns, despite a still-lower greenback, said Stephen Platt, analyst with Archer Financial Services.
While physical demand at the retail level has been strong, it is not fully overriding the negative impact from deleveraging and jewellery demand, Mr Platt said.
Silver futures rose despite gold's slump as participants are building speculative positions on technical momentum with the metal above $US10 an ounce, Gross said.
Comex December silver rose US32.5c, or 3.2 per cent, to settle at $US10.455 an ounce.
Meanwhile, Nymex January platinum rose $US22.30, or 2.6 per cent, to settle at $US880 an ounce while December palladium on the exchange gained $US9.30, or 4.4 per cent, to $US219 an ounce.
