NEW YORK (Commodity Online) : Gold and oil prices dropped sharply for the week Friday in New York with gold recorded its worst one day percentage dip in almost five years.
Gold for December delivery declined $101.90, or 5.9%, to settle at $1,639.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the largest one-day drop for a most-active contract since June 2006. On the week, gold lost 9.7%.
In crude oil Futures, New York's main contract, WTI crude for delivery in November fell 66 cents to $79.85 a barrel while London’s Brent North Sea crude for November dropped $1.52 to 103.97.
Analysts attributed the sharp decline to uncertainty in the global markets as that may add to worries over another potential recession in the United States and the deepening debt crisis in the euro zone
On Friday, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group announced hikes in margin requirements for some gold, silver and copper futures contracts.
In a statement, CME said initial requirements for gold's benchmark contract rose 21% to $11,475 per contract, from $9,450 and maintenance margins climbed to $8,500 from $7,000 per contract.
