Gold prices, down 17 percent from a record in September, may tumble an additional 13 percent, according to technical analysis by Stifel Nicolaus & Co.

Gold may drop to $1,400 an ounce “in a hurry” if it closes below its 200-day moving average, Dave Lutz, the head of exchange-traded fund trading and strategy at Stifel Nicolaus & Co. in Baltimore, said today in an e-mail. The metal fell 3.5 percent to $1,604.80 at 10:24 a.m. on the Comex in New York. The 200-day moving average is about $1,614.

Prices are tumbling because investors are in a “risk-off” mode, Lutz said. Gold is also “getting clobbered” after the Federal Reserve refrained from adding additional stimulus measures, Europe’s debt woes escalated and signs emerged that economic growth may slow in India, the world’s top consumer, he said.

Bullion took an “escalator up,” and will be in an “elevator down,” Lutz said. The “first stop” for gold will be $1,500, followed by a drop to $1,400 by as early as the end of January, he said.

Gold may find support if the Fed decides to take more actions to spur growth at its meeting next month, Lutz said.