NEW YORK, Dec. 5 (UPI) -- Gold futures dropped Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange with investors focused on leaders in Europe who are tackling the eurozone's debt problems.
Equity markets closed higher, but failed to maintain an early peak with investors anticipating an announcement in Paris following a meeting between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But stocks slid after the leaders held a joint news conference and called for tougher sanctions on eurozone countries that do not keep their finances within regional guidelines.
Gold also slid in afternoon trading, closing down $24.20 to $1,727.10 per troy ounce. Silver lost 31 cents to $32.37 per ounce.
The dollar was mostly higher in Asia and Europe.
The euro rose to $1.3396 from Friday's $1.339. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 77.82 yen from Friday's 77.98 yen.
The British pound was $1.5641 from Friday's $1.5649. Against the Hong Kong dollar, the U.S. standard was 7.7701 from 7.7702 HKD on Friday.
The dollar was 1.017 against the Canadian dollar from 1.0165 Canadian. The Australian dollar was $1.0258 from Friday's $1.0269.
