Commodities are tanking right now. And none are flat-lining worse than gold.
The yellow metal is down $139 as of 4 p.m. eastern time today, falling to $1,364 an ounce – its lowest level in more than two years. Gold has now fallen 24% in six months.
Gold isn’t the only commodity in the midst of an epic crash. Here’s what other commodities are doing:
- Oil prices are down 3.2%, dipping below $90 a barrel for the first time in 2013.
- Spot silver has plunged 10.3%, declining to its lowest level since 2010.
- Platinum and palladium are down 5.5% and 7.4%, respectively.
- Copper prices slipped 3.5%, falling to a 15-month low.
It wasn’t just commodities, however. Stocks had their worst day all year. The S&P 500 declined 2.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed a whopping 265 points.
The decline accelerated in the last 70 minutes of trading after two explosions left at least a half-dozen people injured at the Boston Marathon just before 3 p.m. The Dow shed roughly 120 points after the explosion.
News is still trickling out, so it’s too early to say whether or not the Boston Marathon explosions were a terrorist attack. Given the severity of the disaster, however, it’s something that’s sure to weigh heavily on markets once Wall Street opens its doors again tomorrow morning.
Whether you were a commodity investor or day trader, this was undoubtedly the worst day all year on Wall Street.