Gold fell for a third straight session on Thursday, hitting a 10-month low as unprecedented monetary stimulus from the Bank of Japan and hopes for another European Central Bank rate cut failed to stem heavy selling of bullion by funds. Palladium dropped around 3 percent, dragged down by a commodities selloff led by crude oil as a four-month high in US initial jobless claims dented demand hopes.
Spot gold earlier fell as low as $1,539.74 an ounce, its weakest point since May 30. It was last down 0.2 percent at $1,554.60 by 3:30 pm EDT (1930 GMT). US Comex gold for June delivery settled down $1.10 at $1,552.40, with volume about 5 percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Among other precious metals, silver tumbled to its lowest level since July 24 at $26.62 an ounce. It was last down 0.1 percent at $26.89. Platinum dropped to its lowest since late August at $1,504.50. It was later at $1,522.50, down 0.6 percent, while palladium was down 3.1 percent at $726.50, having hit a one-month low of $720.22.
