Gold traders were greeted with a jolt Monday morning. The precious metal fell by nearly $20 an ounce in seconds at about 4 a.m. ET. The price sank from about $1,254 an ounce to a low of $1,236. Gold has recovered a portion of those losses, but it still trades down by 1% near $1,244.
The precious metal has had a solid start to 2017, gaining 7.36% year-to-date. But the yellow metal has struggled to break through its preelection level of about $1,300.
Gold prices fell after Donald Trump’s election win as traders speculated Trump’s pro-business agenda would spark robust economic growth in the US. That put a charge in the US dollar and weighed on gold.