COMEX gold futures - fell to as low as $1,688.40 in electronic trading

Gold prices plunged Wednesday amid U.S. dollar strength and widespread liquidation in precious metals.  The primary catalyst for the sell-off was Ben Bernanke’s semi-annual testimony to Congress, in which the Fed Chairman indicated that the central bank was not prepared to launch a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) in the near future.

COMEX gold futures, per the April contract, settled lower by $77.10, or 4.3%, at $1,711.30 per ounce but later fell to as low as $1,688.40 in electronic trading.  The loss marked gold’s worst single-day decline since late September 2011, over five months ago.  Furthermore, the yellow metal relinquished its entire gain for the month of February and cut its year-to-date return to 7.8%.