Gold prices tumbled nearly 4 percent Monday after the precious metal reached multi-decade highs last week.

June gold fell $27.10 to settle at $691.90 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange after sinking as low as $685 an ounce earlier in the day, its lowest level since it surged above $700 last Tuesday.

Volume for gold futures on Nymex hit a record high of 29,513 contracts Monday, the exchange said. That beat the previous record of 25,529 contracts traded on Feb. 6, 2003.

Gold had been supported of late by the weak U.S. dollar, high oil prices and anxieties stemming from tensions between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Prices had jumped 12 percent since the beginning of May, hitting a 26-year high above $730 an ounce during the day on Friday.

The all-time record for gold was set in January 1980 when the metal briefly hit $875 an ounce.

Other precious metals also sank Monday: July silver fell 90 cents to settle at $13.335 an ounce; July platinum fell $33.70 to settle at $1,284.80 an ounce; and June palladium fell $23.60 to settle at $374.75 an ounce.

Most market participants are still bullish on gold and other commodities, but a few are starting to take pause, said Bernard Hunter, director of precious metals at Scotia Mocatta, a division of the Bank of Nova Scotia.

"The overall uptrend appears intact for the time being," Hunter said, pointing to continuing signs of strong physical demand. "That said, (it's) still a significant drop. It'd probably be premature to say (gold has peaked), but with the volatility in the market, it's hard to get a clear sense."

Leonard Kaplan, president of Prospector Asset Management, said he predicts commodities, which have surged in recent months due to funds buying huge positions, will eventually crumble like the telecom stock bubble of the late 1990s because the fundamentals don't support such high prices. The question now is when the so-called commodities bubble will burst, he said.

"Prices may go higher. I'm not saying they won't - it all depends upon the flow of funds. If funds keep throwing money into gold, it could be $1,000 or $2,000. But is it worth this price now? No."

Meanwhile, the July copper contract fell 11.75 cents to settle at $3.7465 per pound on Nymex.

June crude oil fell $2.63 to $69.41 a barrel.

June gasoline fell 12.45 cents to $2.0540 a gallon.

June heating oil dropped 10.17 cents to $1.9450 a gallon.

June natural gas fell 15.7 cents to $6.123 a million British thermal units.

On the New York Board of Trade, Arabica coffee futures slid to five-month lows. July ended 2 cents lower at $1.0160 a pound.

The most active July cocoa contract settled $32 lower at $1,540 per metric ton.

Raw sugar in foreign ports for July settled down 0.43 cent at 17.17 cents a pound.

On the Chicago Board of Trade, July corn ended up 1.75 cents at $2.60 per bushel. July soybeans ended 8.5 cents lower at $6.0450 a bushel. July wheat ended up 9.5 cents at $4.0150.