Gold was worth almost $1,920/oz on the spot market earlier, having been about $2,104/oz at this time yesterday.

Producers Barrick Gold, Kinross Gold and Yamana Gold all lost 9% or more on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Silver, which this week briefly rose over $29/oz for the first time since 2013, was at $25.17/oz on the spot market at the time of writing.

"Some people have attributed this to the fact that Goldman Sachs have closed down their long recommendation and made 50% in the process … maybe there's some credence in that, maybe it's more to the dynamics [that] took place and there's been no real buyers and a lot of sellers," Pepperstone head of research Chris Weston said.

Precious metals producer Fresnillo posted the biggest fall on London's FTSE 100, closing down 6.69%.

Elsewhere, copper major Freeport-McMoRan lost 2.92% in New York as the red metal price eased in London.

Market futures were mainly positive, after a downbeat finish in North America yesterday while key European and Australasian markets had shown gains.

Finally, BHP was down 0.8% in morning Australian trade.