Gold prices fall to half-decade low after morning selloff in Shanghai

Gold prices fell by more than 4% on Monday when a selloff in Shanghai and New York triggered a minor flash crash, Reuters reported. A wave of sell orders in a one-minute period shortly after the Shanghai Gold Exchange opened on Monday sent GCv1 – the most active US gold futures contract – down US$48 to as low as US$1,080 per ounce, its lowest level since February 2010. Within two minutes, an estimated 33 tons of gold in Shanghai and New York worth US$1.3 billion changed hands. A lack of liquidity, with Japanese markets closed for a holiday, worsened the slide.