This is the view of IG market analyst Josh Mahoney who said that it ultimately came down to risk attitudes, with gold moving in tandem with the yen and treasuries.

“With gold so close to the critical $1200 level, a continuation of this current risk-on mood could kill off the 2016 rally. Time is running out for it to escape the clutches of $1200,” Mahoney said.

Towards the end of the week, zinc dropped by 3.5%, coming off a seven-year high, while lead, aluminium, copper and tin lost around 2% each.

Nickel was the only positive, rising by 0.3% to $11,284 per tonne.

In softer commodities, cocoa increased $8 per tonne or 0.33% to $2419/t yesterday from $2411/t in the previous trading session, tradingeconomics.com reported. Cocoa dropped -0.90% during the last week, was down 10.34% during the last month and down 27.60% overall during the last year. Historically, cocoa reached an all-time high of $4361.58/t in July of 1977 and a record low of $211/t in July of 1965.

Coffee decreased 2.35c per pound or 1.42% to 162.95c/lb yesterday from 165.30/lb in the previous trading session, tradingeconomics.com reported. Coffee rose 0.68% during the last week, was up 3.72% during the last month and up 38.03% overall during the last year. Historically, coffee reached an all-time high of 339.86c/lb in April of 1977 and a record low of 42.50c/lb in October of 2001.