JOHANNESBURG - Gold’s long rally has ended abruptly, its biggest plunge in over a decade.
The sell-off was driven by higher CME margin requirements and uncertainty over Kevin Warsh's stance on US interest rate cuts.
Spot gold dropped 3.3 percent to $4,703 an ounce after sliding more than 5 percent to a two-week low.
It had hit a record high last Thursday. US gold futures for April eased 0.3 percent.
CME Group hiked margin requirements on metal futures, effective after Monday’s close.
Comex gold futures margins rose to 8 percent from 6 percent, while silver margins jumped to 15 percent from 11 percent.
Spot silver fell 5 percent to $80.28 an ounce after hitting a record $121.64 on Thursday.
Platinum dropped 4.1 percent to $2,074 an ounce after peaking near $2,918 in late January,
while palladium slid 3.3 percent to $1,642.35.