PRECIOUS-Metals in meltdown as platinum hits lowest level since late 2002

(Updates prices, adds graphics)
* Fed slashes rates for second time this year
* Platinum prices down 26% at day's low
* Silver dips as much as 20%, palladium falls 18%

By Sumita Layek
March 16 (Reuters) - Precious metal prices collapsed on
Monday, with platinum plunging to a 17-1/2 year low as investors
opted for cash after a U.S. rate cut failed to stem a
coronavirus-led sell-off.
Platinum XPT= fell as much as 26%, heading for its biggest
one-day loss on record, while palladium dropped by nearly 18%,
silver almost 20%, and gold more than 5% to break below the key
psychological level f $1,500 an ounce.
By 1350 GMT, spot gold XAU= was down 4.5% at $1,460.70 per
ounce, while U.S. gold futures GCv1 were 4% lower at $1,455.40
per ounce.
Platinum XPT= was down 14.6% to $650 per ounce, having
earlier dipped to its lowest since October 2002 at $558.
Silver XAG= was 15% lower at $12.47 after hitting its
lowest since January 2009, while palladium XPD= was down 15.7%
to $1,522.50.
Precious metals were caught up in a broader market sell-off
as coronavirus continued to spread rapidly, with some investors
obliged to sell assets to cover margin calls.
"Overall, investors are mainly looking for cash. They're
liquidating any assets they have, even gold," said Hussein
Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM.
"At this stage, we're almost sure recession will hit the
global economy," he said. "The longer this virus stays, the more
countries announce emergency measures, the more the lockdown
period continues, the more sentiment will worsen."
Stocks found little support from the U.S. Federal Reserve
slashing interest rates to near zero and restarting bond buying
to cushion the economy from the virus-led impact. MKTS/GLOB
The coronavirus outbreak has claimed more than 6,500 lives
worldwide and triggered panic across markets, prompting central
banks around the globe to push through support measures to
temper the economic fallout. European Union finance ministers plan to agree on Monday on
a coordinated economic response to the pandemic. "It's a continued hunt for cash for liquidity. Everything is
being sold, market participants are throwing in the towel just
leaving the exits, and when everybody wants to exit there is a
massive sell off in particular in very illiquid markets like
PGMs," Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch said.
The more industrial precious metals also tend to suffer from
the threat of a downturn in economic activity, with autocatalyst
metals platinum and palladium particularly sensitive to
expectations for falling car sales.

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