NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures fell 4% early Monday, pressured by tumbling oil prices and firmness in the U.S. dollar, as other metals also posted steep losses, with silver dropping 9%.
Gold for February delivery dropped $34.90, or 4%, to $784.10 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex.
The contract hit an intraday low of $781.50 an ounce.
Gold fell "on sharply lower oil prices and the dollar remaining firm after strong gains at the end of last week," said Mark O'Byrne, executive director at Gold and Silver Investments Ltd.
"Renewed uncertainty and weakness in stock markets could result in short-term weakness in gold, but gold [should] continue to see a flight to safety in the medium and long term," he said in a morning note.
Oil futures tumbled 6% early Monday, coming under pressure after the OPEC oil cartel decided to keep output unchanged at a weekend meeting. Oil for January delivery fell $3.15, or 6%, to $51.34 a barrel in electronic trading on Globex. See Futures Movers.
In the currency markets, the U.S. dollar was mostly higher against other major currencies.
The dollar index , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of currencies, gained 0.4% to 87.11. See Currencies.
On Wall Street, U.S. stock futures pointed to an opening slump as December kicked off, as gloomy worldwide economic data took the wind out of last week's rally.
Also on the Globex, March silver futures tumbled 95 cents, or 9%, to $9.29 an ounce.
January platinum futures fell $65.20, or 7.4%, to $817.10 an ounce and March palladium futures fell $19.45, or 10%, to $174.80 an ounce. March copper futures fell 2 cents to $1.63 a pound.
