Moreover, a break of support at the $1,300 level led to an uptick in selling that pulled prices to a three-month low.
The move was caused by “continued dollar strength, and traders looking for stops below such a big level,” Saxo Bank’s head of commodity research Ole Hansen told Reuters. “You can argue that considering the importance of the level, the weakness seen so far has been relatively modest.”
SEE MORE: Can Gold and Silver ETFs go Their Separate Ways?
On the other hand, bearish ETF options surged on the turn in gold prices. For instance, the ProShares UltraShort Gold (NYSEArca: GLL) provides a two times inverse or -200% daily performance of gold bullion. Alternatively, ETN options include the DB Gold Double Short ETN (NYSEArca: DZZ), which tries to generate the twice inverse or -200% return of the daily performance of gold; DB Gold Short ETN (NYSEArca: DGZ), which tries to reflect the inverse of gold price movements; and VelocityShares 3x Inverse Gold ETN (NYSEArca: DGLD), which tries to reflect the performance of three times the inverse or -300% daily performance. On Tuesday, DZZ rose 6.2%, DGZ gained 3.1% and DGLD increased 9.5%.
Additionally, investors bet against gold miners with bearish options like the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: DUST), the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: JDST) and ProShares UltraShort Gold Miners (NYSEArca: GDXS). The Direxion options take the -300% exposure to large miners and junior miners, respectively, while the ProShares option take the -200% exposure to large miners and junior miners, respectively. On Tuesday, DUST surged 24.9%, JDST jumped 28.8% and GDXS advanced 17.7%.
For more information on the bullion market, visit our precious metals category.