Gold Plunges Below $820 an Ounce

Dropping to its lowest level in a year, gold dropped by 4 percent to day to finish the session below $820 an ounce; much of that attributed to longs getting out more than a large build-up of short positions.

"It's clearly a technical break. It's clearly the oil and the dollar/euro. You could see some panic here in the gold market now," said Bruce Dunn, vice president of trading at Auramet Trading in New Jersey.

This is the largest one-day loss percentage-wise since March 19, when gold futures fell by 5.8 percent.

The yellow metal ended the day at $818.25/820.85, the lowest price since December 27, 2007.

On the COMEX division of the NYMEX, U.S. gold futures for December fell by $36.50, to settle at $828.30 an ounce.