Gold slides to six-week low, approaches $1,700 an ounce

Gold fell to a six-week low in Tuesday trading, stopping just short of the $1,700 an ounce threshold as investors become increasingly concerned about the state of the global economy.

Reuters reports that the precious metal fell over 1% on widespread concerns over the economy which also dragged down equities by over a percent, saw copper futures tap six-week troughs, and boosted the fortunes of the US dollar.

Spot gold prices fell 1.3% to $1,706.20 an ounce in afternoon trading, while US gold futures for delivery in December shed $16,90 to hit $1709.40 an ounce. Gold also sank beneath the key technical support of the 50-day moving average.

Precious metal peer silver declined 2.2% in Tuesday trading to $31.69 an ounce.

Gold hit its 2012 high of $1,796.69 earlier this month, closely approaching yet failing to breach the $1,800 barrier.