Investors in the gold mining industry caused a significant drop in U.S. stock indices and domestic oil prices to fall, pushing the major U.K. stock index down by about 1% and causing concerns that higher oil prices could accelerate inflation. The spot price of gold fell by 4.5% a troy ounce on a day when it normally expected to rise. The drop appears to be an effort by investors to get “liquid” or hold cash. Precious metal companies were the worst-performing Colorado stocks, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the $18.3 billion that the state’s 55 largest public companies shed in value. The biggest hit in dollars was from the 7.9% drop in the share price of Newmont Corp., the world's largest gold mining company, which lost $11 billion in dollars. Some of the downward pressure was company-specific, with Newmont's shares downgraded by TD Securities and its ex-dividend date being the day before the company's ex dividend date.