SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold and silver prices fell sharply on Wednesday as the dollar soared in the wake of the U.S. midterm elections, and the market bemoaned the lack of Asian buyers.

Trading around four-year lows, gold for December delivery GCZ24, shed $22, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,145.70 an ounce, marking its sixth straight loss.

December silver US:SIZ4 stumbled 51 cents, or 3.2%, to $15.44 an ounce. It had earlier traded at $15.40 per troy ounce level, its cheapest since February 2010, said a Commerzbank analyst.

Buoyed by news that Republican Senate candidates won sweeping victories Tuesday, the dollar USDJPY, -0.01% reached a fresh seven-year high against the Japanese yen. In general, gold tends to move inversely to the U.S. dollar. The dollar index DXY, +0.70% rebounded on Wednesday, rising back above the key threshold of 87, which it fell below on Tuesday.

“Republicans might be harder on the Fed and loose policy. There’s little reason to hold gold when forward interest rates are going in one direction,” said Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG, who answered questions via a Twitter exchange. “Why hold gold when it pays you nothing. Plus deflation fears are never good for gold.”

No Asia buyers: Carsten Fritsch and a team of analysts at Commerzbank said futures markets are increasingly betting on falling prices for precious metals. “For as long as purchasers in Asia continue to exercise restraint, gold will find it difficult to bottom out. News of robust demand among retail investors in North America and Europe will do nothing to change this,” he said in a note.

Fritsch and others also pointed out that reports that Russia may use gold reserves to help pay for imports wasn’t supportive for prices either.

Louis James of Casey Research says that it’s times like these that test the discipline of investors in the resource sector, where “one is either a contrarian or one becomes road kill.”

Democrats struggle in midterm elections

James said if a broader market downturn sweeps metals prices lower along with it, “that would, of course, be a spectacular buying opportunity, precisely because so few people will take it. Easy to say, tough to do, and not the first time we’ve said it.”

Losses were just as severe elsewhere in metals trading. January platinum US:PLF5 lost $14.10, or 1.2%, to $1,210.60 an ounce, while December palladium US:PAZ4 slumped $32.80, or 4.2%, to $757.85 an ounce.

High-grade copper for December delivery US:HGZ4 slipped a penny to $3.00 a pound.

—Barbara Kollmeyer contributed to this report.