Gold fell about 1 percent to its lowest in nearly a month on Tuesday on technical selling after prices broke below key support levels, but the dip may lure bargain hunters who expect the gloomy global economy to keep gold buoyant. Gold broke below $1,710 an ounce and subsequently $1,705, key technical levels it had held since early November, which triggered stop-loss selling, traders said.

Spot gold fell nearly 1 percent to $1,698.3 an ounce, its lowest since November 6, before recovering to $1,702.24 by 0649 GMT. The most-active US futures contract dropped as much as 1.3 percent to a near one-month low of $1,698.5, and stood at $1,703.

Copyright Reuters, 2012