Heavy end-of-year selling by hedge funds and signals of potential progress in U.S. budget talks sent gold tumbling in Thursday trading, falling below $1,650 an ounce for the first time in months.

Gold futures for February delivery dropped to $1,648 on Thursday, according to CME Group. Gold traded as high as $1,672.80 and as low as $1,636. Gold bullion closed in London at $1,651, according to BullionVault.

Silver futures for February delivery sank to $29.96 per ounce. Thursday’s high for silver was $31.15, while the low was $29.66.

Gold and silver funds sank in Thursday trading.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) tumbled 1.2%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) dropped 1.1%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) plunged 3.7%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs also moved down during the day.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) slipped 0.6%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) fell 1.2%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) dipped 0.5%.

Gold mining shares mostly declined, with Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) falling the most.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) slid 1.2%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) edged down 0.5%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) dipped 0.5%.
• Goldcorp sank 1.6%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC) declined 0.5%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) rose 0.8%.
• NovaGold Resources (NYSE:NG) fell back 0.9%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) retreated 1.9%.

Silver mining shares mostly rose on Thursday.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) climbed 2.4%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) ticked up 0.4%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) gained 0.5%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) fell 1.1%
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) dipped 0.1%.

As of this writing, Christopher Freeburn did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.