NEW YORK (AP) - Gold prices declined Thursday as the dollar gained ground against the euro and the British pound.
Energy prices plunged, while agriculture futures mostly rose.
"The nearly two week-old rally in gold prices reversed course on Thursday as the U.S. dollar took a significant forward step against the European common currency, and as oil prices were macerated," wrote senior analyst Jon Nadler of Kitco Bullion Dealers Montreal in a research note.
Gold for February delivery fell $7.90 to settle at $860.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Other precious metals prices also fell. March silver fell 30 cents to $11.12 an ounce, while March copper futures fell 7.15 cents to $1.3015 a pound.
On Wall Street, more glum corporate news, including a negative ratings outlook on General Electric Co., rattled investors and sent stocks tumbling. Falling oil prices also weighed on the market. The Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor's 500 index both fell more than 2 percent.
Meanwhile, long-term Treasury prices soared, sending yields down to new record lows. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.07 percent late Thursday from 2.19 percent late Wednesday.
Crude briefly dropped below $36 a barrel Thursday on worries of a drastic pullback in energy spending, even after a record production cut from OPEC earlier this week.
Oil prices have been on a downward march since reaching a high of near $150 a barrel in July.
The January contract for light, sweet crude, which closes on Friday, fell 9 percent, or $3.84, to settle at $36.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after dropping as low as $35.98, levels not seen since June 2004. The February contract fell $2.94 to settle at $41.67 a barrel.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 4.26 cents to 96.3 cents a gallon, while heating oil fell 6.96 cents to $1.3729 a gallon.
Grain prices mostly rose on the Chicago Board of Trade.
"Given the recent big gains in wheat, corn, and beans, and the big sell off in crude oil, as well as the strength in the dollar today, many traders felt grain prices should sell off sharply," wrote Vic Lespinasse, an analyst at GrainAnalyst.com in a research note. "This didn't happen as the grains traded mixed today, acting much better than many expected."
March wheat futures rose 14 cents to $5.7150 a bushel, while March soybeans gained 5.5 cents to $8.7450 a bushel.
Corn for March delivery was unchanged at 3.8950 a bushel.
