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A proposal that would have required the Swiss National Bank to hold a fixed portion of its assets in bullion was voted down by 77 percent to 23 percent in a referendum yesterday. Had it been approved, analysts estimated it would have led to purchases of at least 1,500 metric tons over five years.

Commodities reached a five-year low today as oil sank on prospects for a glut and data from China confirmed a slowdown in the world’s top user of fuels and metals. Gold posted a third monthly drop in November and the dollar advanced as the Federal Reserve ended a bond-buying program and lower energy prices helped reduce inflation.

“Gold has closed in on levels last tested over four years ago following the decline in oil prices, exacerbated by the rejection of the Swiss initiative,” Suki Cooper, an analyst at Barclays Plc in New York, wrote in a report today. “In the near term, we would continue to view rallies as an opportunity to short gold given the negative external environment.”

Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 2.1 percent to $1,142.88 an ounce, the lowest since Nov. 7, when it dropped to a four-year low. It was down 0.3 percent at $1,163.71 by 8:53 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Gold for February delivery slid 1.1 percent to $1,162.40 on the Comex in New York.

Trading Volume

Futures trading volume on the Comex was almost triple the 100-day average for this time of day, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Silver for immediate delivery lost 0.8 percent to $15.3254 an ounce, paring a drop that reached 6.7 percent.

India, the biggest user of gold after China, unexpectedly scrapped rules on Nov. 28 requiring importers to sell 20 percent of their purchases to jewelers for re-export to remove distortions in shipments and curb smuggling. The move may help create a firmer “floor” for gold prices, Barclays said.

The “Save Our Swiss Gold” measure would have required the central bank to hold at least 20 percent of its assets in bullion from 8 percent. Approval would have also meant repatriating its bullion from abroad and never selling any.

“Precious metals have been dragged down by lower energy prices as inflation concerns ease,” said Sun Yonggang, a Shanghai-based macroeconomic strategist at Everbright Futures Co. “Now that the support from the Swiss vote has been removed, the focus shifts back to the Fed and the divergence in monetary policies between the U.S. and other central banks.”

Silver dropped for a fifth month in November in the longest run of losses since June 2013 and touched $14.4235 today, the lowest since August 2009.

Platinum lost 0.3 percent to $1,197.43 an ounce. It reached $1,182.63, the lowest since Nov. 19, after also posting a fifth straight monthly decline in November. Palladium slipped 1.2 percent to $799.55 an ounce.