Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell Monday, as the negative outside market forces of political uncertainty in Europe and slowing Chinese growth concerns dominated trading.

The most active gold contract for June delivery lost 10.2 dollars, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 1,632.6 dollars per ounce.

Market analysts said gold suffered with the majority of the other financial markets Monday, as weekend political events in Europe and a below-expectations Chinese growth report cast an overwhelmingly bearish atmosphere on Wall Street.

Results of the first round French presidential election saw socialist candidate Francois Hollande take first place, setting up a May 6 runoff election between Hollande and incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Further adding to Eurozone worries was Monday's resignation of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, after budget talks in the Netherlands fell through this weekend.

In China, the HSBC Chinese Manufacturing Purchasing Manager's Index showed that the Chinese economy was contracting rather than expanding, a release that compounded existing concerns for slowing Chinese growth. This month's HSBC index reading of 49.1, however, was still an improvement over the 48.3 posted in March.

In response to the bearish news from Europe and Asia, the U.S. stocks fell on Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing more than one hundred points, while crude oil also took a significant hit.

In other times gold might have seen some support from such negative macroeconomics data, as the precious metal is traditionally viewed as a safe haven in times of economic difficulty. Recently, however, investors have tended to prefer the dollar over gold as a safe haven, according to analysts.

Silver also suffered in Monday's negativity. Silver for May delivery sharply dropped 1.12 dollars, or 3.54 percent, to settle at 30.531 dollars per ounce. July Platinum closed at 1,556.3 dollars per ounce, down 27.9 dollars, or 1.76 percent.