Gold and silver both fell, as news about the mastermind of the 911 terror attacks, Osama bin Laden being killed in Pakistan spread in the market. Gold future fell by 0.39 percent to USD $ 1550.30 an ounce.
The news about Bin laden’s death brought about an increase in the stock indexes in all the major stock markets of the world, with the result that there was a decrease in the demand of precious metals from investors looking for hedging their investments.
Meanwhile, silver fell by a whooping 11 percent after the CME Group increased the amount of cash to be deposited by traders for speculative positions. The initial margin was increased by 13 percent to USD $ 14513 per contract. This increase was taken to bring about a stop in the huge increases made by silver this year due to speculation. Silver futures later made some gains, but they last closed at USD $ 44.115 an ounce, registering a decline of 9.23 percent.