Precious metals mining stocks fell sharply on Thursday as gold and silver prices continued to pull back from recent highs.
Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES), the Mexican silver and gold miner, dropped 5.75%, while fellow FTSE 100 constituent Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF, FRA:6E2) fell 6%.
On the FTSE 250, Atalaya Mining plunged 10.5%, Pan African Resources lost 7.5% and Hochschild Mining droipped 5.9%.
The price of gold was down 2.1% to $4,717 an ounce on Thursday morning, down from around $5,200 a week ago and $5,400 at the end of February.
Silver fell harder, dropping 5.8% to $71.03 an ounce, having traded above $84 a week ago and above $90 at the end of last month.
Mining stocks tend to track the underlying metal prices closely, since their revenues and profits rise and fall with the commodities they produce.
The retreat comes after an exceptional run for both metals, with gold hitting record highs above $5,400 and silver surging alongside it as investors sought safe-haven assets amid geopolitical uncertainty.
However, the war in the Middle East has sent up energy prices and raised worries about inflation and support for the US dollar, hitting demand for precious metals.