Gold futures tumble

Gold futures on Monday ended at their lowest since late July, adding to last week’s dramatic drops as investors hedged against a possible global liquidity crunch and reacted to increases in margin requirements for gold. Gold for December delivery declined $45, or 2.7%, to end at $1,594.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest settlement since July 21. Silver, which had wavered between gains and losses earlier, closed lower, with the December contract off 13 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $29.98 an ounce, the lowest finish for silver since Feb. 7. Most metals tracked gold and silver lower, and the price action in precious metals followed on Friday’s huge downward moves, which saw gold futures tumble 5.9% during the session. That was gold’s biggest one-day percentage drop in five years, while silver futures sank 18%.