LONDON: Gold dropped 2.5 percent to a two-week low on Friday, on track for its biggest one-day drop since mid-April, as a breach of key chart levels prompted heavy selling of U.S. futures, already pressured by a stronger dollar. Traders said sell stops - automatic sale orders placed by traders at pre-set levels to limit losses - were triggered as the metal broke support at $1,445 and $1,440 an ounce, prompting a sharp move down to session lows at $1,428.40 an ounce. "The market had been trading between $1,440 and $1,480 for a while, but attempts to break higher were unsuccessful and there was little bit of fatigue, with sell stops triggered at $1,440," MKS head of trading Afshin Nabavi said. "The market is very nervous and if we close below $1,425 we could see $1,400, while a break below that level could see the market going very messy." Spot gold fell as low as $1,420.60 an ounce and was down 2.4 percent at $1,422.75 an ounce at 1435 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for June delivery were down 3.2 percent at $1,422. The metal plunged to $1,321.35 an ounce on April 16, its lowest in more than two years, after similar stop-sell orders below $1,525 triggered heavy liquidation. "We were sitting in a fairly tight $1,440 to $1,480 range, which was finally breached to the downside," VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov said. "Orders were triggered below $1,440." "The U.S. dollar index is at late April highs, back above 83," he added. "That is one of the few things driving it, given still small volumes and little in the way of fundamental developments." The dollar hit a 4-1/2 year high against the yen and was also at a two-week low against a basket of currencies. In other markets, European shares hit five-year highs and U.S. crude fell 2.4 percent. Rising optimism over the U.S. recovery has also boosted the appeal of assets like stocks at gold's expense, and has called into question the scope of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing programme, a major support to bullion in recent years. ETF REPORTS INFLOW Deutsche Bank became the latest bank to cut its gold forecast on Friday, reducing its price view for the metal to $1,533 an ounce this year from $1,637 an ounce, and to $1,500 an ounce in 2014 from $1,810. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, reported its first inflow since March 19 on Thursday, of 2.7 tonnes. The SPDR's holdings are down 167.1 tonnes so far in the second quarter. Spot platinum was down 1.7 percent at $1,477.49 an ounce, while spot palladium fell 0.8 percent at $698.22 an ounce. Anglo American Platinum said on Friday it would cut 6,000 South African mining jobs, fewer than half the 14,000 initially proposed, as it strives to restore profits without triggering a backlash from the government and restive unions. The world's top platinum producer said it would also keep open one of four shafts slated for closure near the platinum belt city of Rustenburg, taking 250,000 ounces out of global platinum production this year. Silver was down 1.6 percent at $23.27 an ounce, having earlier fallen to a two-week low of $23.15.

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