Precious metals find floor after sell-off

"Reduced concern about the inflation outlook, a more robust outlook for the U.S. dollar, a slowdown in producer de-hedging and a very long market in terms of physical ownership (are) biasing prices lower," he said.

Oil prices have also slipped, reaching a session low of under $113 a barrel, as fears over weakening global demand dampened interest in crude.

Falling crude prices reduce gold's appeal as a hedge against oil-led inflation, and can undermine confidence in commodities as an asset class, analysts said.

Negative sentiment in the commodity markets in recent months can be seen in the performance of indices such as the Reuters-Jeffries/CRB index, which has fallen almost 18 percent since early July.

Silver suffered the most in the sell-off of precious metals, with prices plummeting to a low of $12.39 an ounce, their weakest since last September, in Asian trade.

Platinum and palladium slipped in silver's wake, shedding 7 percent and 6 percent respectively. Both have suffered significant losses in recent weeks on fears faltering global growth could affect car demand.

"The more industrial precious metals, like silver and platinum, are also being hampered by concerns about global growth -- demand for platinum in autocatalysts, and for silver in its industrial offtakes," said Calyon analyst Robin Bhar.

"That is adding to the doom and gloom."

Silver fell to $13.11/13.16 an ounce from $14.15/14.21 late in New York on Thursday.

Spot platinum dropped to $1,386.00/1,406.00 an ounce from $1,481/1,501 an ounce. Spot palladium fell to $291.00/299.00 an ounce from $306.50/314.50 an ounce.

(Reporting by Jan Harvey; editing by Peter Blackburn)