Investors might be left wondering what prompted Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to throw up another hurdle in the path of resolving the euro zone debt crisis, but they aren’t waiting to find out how it turns out. They’ve been dumping shares, commodities and precious metals since Asian markets opened for trading Tuesday following news that the Greek PM decided to put the latest EU debt resolution plan up for popular vote in a national referendum.

A below-expectations 50.4 for China’s October Purchasing Manager’s Index didn’t help matters, and MF Global‘s (NYSE:MF) Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing didn’t shore up confidence, either, particularly among Wall Street banks and hedge funds.

Spot gold was down less than 1% at 10:15 a.m., having hit a high of $1,703.70 and a low of $1,680.60 on Tuesday morning. Spot gold was bid at $1,702.50 with an ask price of $1,703.50 per ounce. The London morning reference price was fixed at $1,702 per ounce, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was more than 3% lower, trading at $33.20 Bid, $33.30 Ask, having hit a morning high of $33.33 and a low of $32.06. Tuesday’s reference price was set at $32.97 per ounce in the London a.m.

Gold and silver trusts were down sharply in exchange trading.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (AMEX:GLD) was more than 2.4% lower.
• The iShares Gold Trust (AMEX:IAU) was down nearly 2.5%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (AMEX:SLV) was getting pummeled, down nearly 5.7%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were getting shellacked as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (AMEX:GDX) was nearly 5.4% lower.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (AMEX:GDXJ) was down nearly 7.2%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (AMEX:SIL) was more than 8% lower.

Shares of gold miners also were showing big morning losses.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE:AEM) was around 2.6% lower.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was around 4.9% lower.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was down around 5.4%.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was 5.5% lower.
• NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX:NG) was down nearly 5.2%.

Silver miners’ shares were down sharply across the board.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) was around 8.7% lower.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down around 8.4%.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) was down more than 3%.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) was showing losses of some 7.9%.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down more than 8.2%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not own a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.