Gold took a steep fall today, dropping from Friday’s close of $1,338.60 per ounce to a low of $1,305.40 early this morning. Kitco’s Jim Wyckoff attributes the decline to “heavy profit taking and capitulation by weak-handed longs.”

As quoted in the market news:

The sell-off accelerated shortly after the Comex futures market opened in early U.S. trading, which suggests a big sell order hit the futures market at that time. August Comex gold was last down $30.60 at $1,307.00 an ounce. Spot gold was last quoted down $33.00 at $1,306.50. December Comex silver last traded down $0.533 at $20.99 an ounce.

Wyckoff believes that gold and silver bulls “need to recover very quickly to avoid near-term chart damage. Price action Tuesday and Wednesday will be extra important for the gold and silver markets.”

Click here to read the full report from Wyckoff.