ReutersOn Monday, silver and gold were somewhat recovering from the Asian trading session flash crash.Late Sunday, gold fell as high as 4% to $1707 an ounce and silver fell 9% at $22.10The Fed's rising expectations that it will reduce stimulus sooner than expected, given Friday’s excellent jobs report, are putting pressure on prices.Subscribe to our daily newsletter 10 Things Before The Opening Bell.The silver and gold prices recovered slightly Monday from their sharp fall at the beginning of Asian trading but were still weighed down by increasing expectations that the US Federal Reserve would reduce its bond buying sooner than anticipated.Spot gold prices fell 4% to $1.707 an ounce late Sunday. Meanwhile, spot silver prices dropped by 9% to $22.10 an troy ounce from $24.34 and $23.43, respectively.Both metals are absorbing losses following the "flash collapse". At 4:55 AM, gold was trading at $1748 an ounce ET Monday: The price of gold was trading at $1,748 an ounce at 4:55 a.m. ET Monday. This is a 0.8% decrease on the day and its lowest level since April. After touching its lowest level since December, silver was 1.7% lower at $23.90 per ounce.After gold broke through technical support levels, the flash crash occurred and stopped-loss orders were activated. Analysts said that these orders to sell are activated once an asset reaches a certain price. They also had an effect on a day of low liquidity due to holidays in Asia.Jeffrey Halley, OANDA's senior market analyst, stated that liquidity was at zero or non-existent on Monday. "It is evident that when gold crossed $1,750 an troy ounce, it set off stop-loss selling into markets with no bids."According to Marshall Gittler (head of investment research at BDSwiss), speculation among traders regarding the flash crash pointed towards an order to sell $4 Billion in gold futures. According to chatter, the order was either placed by China to boost the US dollar or by short sellers.Analysts believe that the price of precious metals is recovering slightly, likely due to bargain hunters entering into the market. However, they are still under pressure following Friday's stellar US jobs report for July.This combination of rising inflation and a better outlook is expected to increase the likelihood that the Fed will reduce its stimulus support faster than ever before. Robert Kaplan, Dallas Fed President, stated last week that the central banking should begin to taper asset purchases as soon as possible. This was followed by gradual tapering over approximately eight months.According to OANDA's Halley, a gradual slowing down of large-scale Fed asset purchases is very likely to begin before Christmas.Read more: Katie Stockton, a legendary technical analyst, shares her secrets for spotting market turning points with 3 of her top indicators. The charts also signal that ether is on its way to crushing bitcoin
