Gold Prices Fall, Ending Six-Day Rally

The price of gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell by more than 2 percent on Thursday, ending six days of consecutive price increases so far this month. At one point the yellow metal was down more than 3 percent.

In afternoon trading, the most actively traded Comex gold contract, August, priced the yellow metal down 2.45 percent to $1,594.50 an ounce. The drop was prompted by China's decision to cut a key interest rate and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before Congress that the Fed was ready to respond if Europe's debt crisis worsened.

Other metals on Thursday followed gold's lead. Silver's July contract fell by 3 percent to $28.60 an ounce, and Platinum fell 1.6 percent to $1,444 an ounce. Copper rose by less than 1 percent to $3.38 an ounce.