GOLD prices tumbled yesterday after Swiss voters overwhelmingly rejected proposals to boost gold reserves in a referendum, joining a broad rout in commodities that sent copper and oil prices to four- and five-year lows.

    The slide in the oil and commodity prices is hurting many assets tied to the resource sector — from Australian mining shares to the Malaysian ringgit.

    MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.9 percent, hitting six-week lows.

    U.S. stock futures ESc1 also slipped 0.4 percent, though some market players think the fall could stem partly from disappointing sales at the start of the U.S. holiday shopping season last Friday.

    European stocks are expected to fall, with Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC40 seen shedding 0.6 percent.

    Gold fell more than 1 percent at one point to US$1,142.90 per ounce, its lowest level in more than three weeks, while silver was also hit, falling more than 6 percent to a five-year low below US$14.50 per ounce.

    The Swiss gold reserves proposal, had it been approved, would have compelled the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to more than double its gold reserves and banned it from ever selling the metal, threatening its ability to defend a 1.20 euro cap on the Swiss franc imposed at the height of the eurozone crisis.

    The Swiss franc dipped to 1.2042 on the euro from 1.2018 at the end of last week, though the Swiss currency is supported by investors who still regard it as one of the safest currencies in the world. It last stood at 1.2040.

    “The result should of course temporarily relieve the pressure on the SNB’s currency floor, albeit whilst doing little or nothing in our opinion to reverse the fundamental downward trajectory of EUR/CHF,” said JP Morgan analyst Paul Meggyesi.

    Oil prices hit five-year lows, unable to find a bottom despite their biggest fall in 2 1/2 years last week after OPEC held back from cutting output in the face of a supply glut.

    U.S. crude CLc1 briefly fell more than 3 percent to a five-year low of US$64.10 per barrel, with the fall from June exceeding 40 percent.

    Adding fuel to the fire, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister told fellow OPEC members last week that they must combat the U.S. shale oil boom.(SD-Agencies)