Gold slumps to a 3 month low

NEW YORK — Spot gold fell 3 percent to its lowest since Feb. 10 at $1,265.76 an ounce in early trade and was down 1.9 percent at $1,268.10 an ounce, heading for its worst daily loss in two months. U.S. gold futures dropped 1.8 percent to $1,268.50 an ounce.

Gold has struggled to break consistently above the $1,300-per-ounce level for the past two weeks, indicating a lack of conviction by investors and speculators, analysts said.

Platinum fell 0.6 percent to $1,460.74 an ounce after South Africa's mining minister pledged to mediate in a strike now in its fifth month. The metal reached its highest since September at $1,493.90 last week.

Global oil prices also fell as traders took profits after a long holiday weekend.

Brent was down 42 cents at $109.90 a barrel and U.S. light crude oil was down 45 cents at $103.90.

The euro steadily lost ground against the greenback as investors returned from long holiday weekends and encountered better-than-expected economic data.

In New York trade, the euro fell 0.15 percent to $1.3625, plumbing Monday's three-month low of $1.3614. Against the yen, the euro softened 0.14 percent to 138.07.

The dollar index reversed course and gained ground against a basket of currencies to rise 0.03 percent.

U.S. Treasury prices inched lower, with the 30-year Treasury bonds down 2/32 in price to yield 3.400 percent, compared with 3.397 percent on Friday. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes were unchanged in price to yield 2.532 percent.