By Frank Tang and Clara Denina
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold fell 2 percent on Thursday, on track for its biggest one-day drop in more than a month, as a pullback in the U.S. Federal Reserve's stimulus program and an equities rally on robust U.S. growth data prompted bullion investors to take profits.
Signs of stabilization after a sharp emerging market selloff, which had boosted gold prices earlier this week, also hit gold's safe-haven appeal.
Silver and platinum group metals dropped on gold's coattails.
The U.S. dollar strengthened and the S&P 500 stock market index rose more than 1 percent after data showed that robust household spending and rising exports sparked a 3.2 percent annual-rate growth in the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter.
"The broad markets are quite volatile right now, so I wouldn't overinterpret too much about short-term actions into a long-term trend for the gold market," said Axel Merk, portfolio manager at California-based Merk Funds, which has about $400 million in currency mutual-fund assets.
Spot gold was down 1.9 percent at $1,244.20 an ounce at 12:10 p.m. EST (1710 GMT).
U.S. COMEX gold futures for February delivery were down $18.40 an ounce at $1,243.80, with trading volume on track to exceed the 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.
On Wednesday, gold rose as U.S. equities initially dropped after the Fed announced a further $10 billion reduction in its monthly bond-buying program.
Also pressuring gold on Thursday were steadier emerging markets, with Latin American currencies opening higher, while Russia's rouble and Turkey's lira rebounded after policymakers pledged to take any measures necessary to stabilize their markets.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, had a rare inflow of fresh investment on Wednesday. Holdings increased by 2.10 tonnes to 792.56 tonnes, though that figure is still near a five-year low.
In other precious metals, platinum fell 1.9 percent to $1,380.74 an ounce, tracking losses in gold.
The metal drew little support from news that South Africa's AMCU union had rejected a 9 percent wage offer from leading platinum producers, prolonging a week of industrial action that has hit around 40 percent of the global supply.
Silver fell 2.8 percent to $19.19 an ounce, and palladium was down 0.9 percent at $705.72 an ounce.
(Additional reporting by Jan Harvey in London and A. Ananthalakshmi in Singapore; Editing by Anthony Barker and; Peter Galloway)
