NEW YORK, April 12 (Reuters) - Major
commodity markets fell sharply on Friday, with oil tumbling to a nine-month low
and gold hitting a 20-month low as investors dumped the commodities on worries
about a weak global economic outlook and a plan for Cyprus to sell gold reserves.
Spot gold fell more than 4 percent, hitting a session low of $1,493.35 an ounce, the
lowest since July 2011.
U.S. gold for June delivery fell to a session low of $1,491.40 an ounce.
Gold entered bear market territory,
dipping below $1,500 an ounce, or more than 20 percent from its peak of more
than $1,900 an ounce in September 2011.
Cyprus may need to sell gold to
raise money to fund a portion of its bailout, the cost of which has grown to 23
billion euros.
"The news on Cyprus' possible gold
sale puts the focus back on the fact that many central banks in the developed
world have been selling gold in the past few decades and they are still not so
keen to hold gold as they used to be," Danske Bank analyst Christin Tuxen
said.
