Despite the sharp falls, the price of gold has only fallen back to where it was a couple of weeks ago and it is still about 70% higher than it was at the same point last year.
As well as a continued sell-off among commodities on Monday, Asian stocks also fell, with South Korea’s benchmark Kospi leading losses with a 5% fall. Elsewhere in the region, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 2% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 was more than 1% lower.
In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 index fell at first, but then recovered to rise 1.2%. The fall in commodity prices put mining companies under pressure, and gold miners Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining were down by more than 2%.
US stock markets dipped at first but then saw modest gains with the S&P 500 index closing 0.5% higher.
In global energy markets, the price of crude oil fell nearly 5%. This is attributed to a number of factors including major oil producers agreeing to keep output unchanged and signs of de-escalating tensions between the US and Iran.
The rise in the value of the US dollar may also have had an impact, as the oil price is denominated in dollars and it makes it more expensive for non-US buyers.