Gold price has dropped more than $100 Friday facing the U.S. dollar rally and rumors of liquidation of positions by large hedge funds.

Silver, which attracted even more speculation over the past year, dropped by 18%, its biggest drop since 1987.

The fear of recession and worsening of the Greek crisis prompted investors to process the precious metals like any other commodity. The risk-free investment that benefited the gold this year has suddenly disappeared in the last two weeks. Gold began to decline at the same time the stock market lost ground.

In two days, gold has lost nearly 9% and silver almost 25%. Despite its decline, gold, which reached a record 920.30 dollars an ounce earlier this month, is up 16% since the beginning of the year.

At the end of yesterday’s session, the price of gold was down by 5.5% to 1,641 dollars an ounce, after reaching one time 1,628 dollars. Percentagewise, this is the biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis.

Silver spot fell by 14% to hit a seven month low, under 31 dollars an ounce.

Traders blamed the fall of the gold on distress sales made by investors increasingly nervous about the turmoil in the credit market and seeking to cover losses on other asset classes, particularly in the stock market due to a sluggish economy.

Finance ministers and central bankers of the G20 countries, meeting Thursday in Washington, pledged in a statement to prevent the debt crisis in the euro area that would undermine banks’ and financial markets’ recovery.

Analysts say that investors may be waiting to learn more about the evolution of the global economic situation before returning to the gold.