Gold futures tumbled below $600 an ounce on Tuesday morning for the first time in two months, due to a rising dollar and weakness in stock and oil markets.
In morning trading, August gold was down $19.30 to $592 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract fell as far $585.50 an ounce, its weakest level since March 30. At the low, the metal had given up $153.70, or 21 percent of its value, since its contract high of $739.20 an ounce on May 12.

July silver lost 66.5 cents to $10.40. It went as low as $10.27 an ounce, its weakest level since March 21. At the low, it had given up $4.93, or 32 percent of its value, since its contract high of $15.20 an ounce on May 11.

"They are down on continuing strength in the dollar and they are moving lower with the equity markets as well," said Frank Lesh, analyst and broker with Future Path Trading.

Sell stops were triggered in both gold and silver, Lesh said.

The euro has slipped as far as $1.2550, its weakest level against the U.S. dollar since April 28. It has now fallen nearly four full pennies since the beginning of last week, when Federal Reserve comments about inflation prompted a recovery in the dollar.

Analysts with Barclays also cited continued weakness in crude oil as a factor pressuring the metals. July crude has lost $1.06 to $69.30 a barrel.

There was limited effect on the metals market from a pair of closely watched economic reports, as most of the selling pressure occurred overnight, said Lesh. The markets got a Producer Price Index that was mixed relative to expectations and a retail sales report was in line or fractionally higher than forecasts.

"We got a little bit of a bounce, but not much," Lesh said.