Gold prices fell more than 1.5 percent to the lowest level since April 2020, amid undermining its attractiveness as a result of a combination of factors starting from the strength of the dollar, and the rise in US Treasury bond yields, with the Federal Reserve adopting a tougher stance with the aim of curbing inflation.
In the Sultanate, the retailers were selling gold at RO20.30 for 22 karats and RO21.10 for 24 karats.
According to market sources, gold prices have dropped by nearly RO1 in the Sultanate since the start of this month.
And gold fell in spot transactions by 1.6 percent to $1644.04 an ounce (an ounce), after it fell by 1.8 percent to $ 1640.20 earlier, at a time when US gold futures lost 1.5 percent to fall at settlement to $ 1655.60 an ounce, in a move that confirms gold’s tendency to record The second weekly decline in a row, by 1.8 percent.
Spot silver prices fell 4.1 percent to $18.84 an ounce, palladium fell 4.8 percent to $2065.29, and platinum 4.8 percent to $857.46, as the three metals are heading to record a weekly decline.
Gold is considered a hedge in times of political and economic uncertainty, but raising interest rates weakens its attractiveness because it does not generate any return.
In the US and European stocks tumbled on Friday, as the dollar scaled a 22-year high and bonds sold off again amid fears of a central bank prescription of raising interest rates to tame inflation will drag major economies into recession.
The Dow narrowly missed confirming a bear market as a deepening downturn in business activity across the eurozone, and US business activity contracting for a third straight month in September, left Wall Street wallowing in a sea of red.
