Investing.com - Gold prices were down sharply in European trading on Monday, as investors dumped safe-haven assets after results showed centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election.
Comex gold futures shed $16.80, or around 1.3%, to $1,272.34 a troy ounce by 2:50AM ET (06:50GMT). Meanwhile, spot gold was at $1,271.20, down 1%.
The yellow metal fell by as much as 1.8% earlier to a session low of $1,266.00, the weakest since April 11.
Also on the Comex, silver futures dipped 8.4 cents, or about 0.5% to $17.85 a troy ounce, after earlier touching a one-month low of $17.55.
Results from the first round of the closely-watched French presidential election on Sunday showed centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron and far-right Marine Le Pen advancing to the second and final round on May 7.
Macron took about 23.9% of the vote and Le Pen took 21.4%, according to an official tally with 96% of ballots counted.
Macron is widely tipped to win the final vote, with opinion polls showing him comfortably beating Le Pen by around 20 percentage points, reducing the risk of an anti-establishment shock in the final round.
The precious metal is often used as a hedge in times of political uncertainty.
The euro jumped to five-month highs against the dollar on relief at the result, while European and U.S. stocks pointed to sharp gains.
Elsewhere in metals trading, platinum declined 0.7% to $971.20, while palladium rose 1% to $798.55 an ounce.
May copper futures added 2.2 cents to $2.573 a pound.