Karachi
\nGold prices in Pakistan slid by Rs43,600 per tola (24 karat) on Monday to Rs447,762 as international prices for the yellow metal fell by more than eight per cent to hit their lowest level in four months.
\nThis was after gold logged its biggest weekly loss in about 43 years last week, as an escalating Middle East conflict stoked inflation concerns and raised expectations of higher global interest rates.
\nSpot gold declined 6.3pc to $4,203.21 per ounce by 07:57 GMT (12:57pm PKT), extending losses into a ninth straight session. It had shed more than 8pc to $4,097.99 earlier in the session to its lowest level since November 24.
\nThe metal dropped more than 10pc last week, its steepest weekly loss since February 1983, and has also retreated about 25pc from its record peak of $5,594.82 an ounce reached on January 29.
\nUS gold futures for April delivery dropped 8.1pc to $4,205.10.
\n\u201cWith the Iranian conflict into its fourth week, and oil prices hanging around the $100 level, expectations have pivoted from rate cuts to potential rate hikes, which have tarnished gold\u2019s appeal from a yield point of view,\u201d said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst, KCM Trade.
\nIran said on Sunday it would strike the energy and water systems of its Gulf neighbours in retaliation if US President Donald Trump followed through with his threat to hit Iran\u2019s electricity grid.
\nAsian shares fell, and oil prices stayed above $110 a barrel.
\n\u201cGold\u2019s high liquidity appears to be hurting it during this risk-off period. Downturns in stock markets are leading to gold portions being closed to cover margin calls on other assets,\u201d Waterer said.
\nThe closure of the Strait of Hormuz has kept crude elevated, stoking inflation fears by pushing up transport and manufacturing costs. While rising inflation typically boosts gold\u2019s appeal as a hedge, high rates curb demand for the non-yielding asset.
\n\u201cA reinforced shift from safe-haven allocation towards macro-driven positioning could skew risks further to the downside, as a firmer US dollar and the receding probability of the Fed easing dominate the narrative,\u201d said BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.
\nMarket pricing for a US Federal Reserve rate hike this year has shot up, with rate futures showing the US central bank is more likely to raise interest rates than cut them by the end of 2026, according to CME\u2019s FedWatch tool.
\nOther precious metals also declined sharply, with spot silver declining 6.1pc to $63.66 per ounce and platinum slipping 6.4pc to $1,799.25. Both metals earlier hit their lowest levels since mid-December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Karachi Gold prices in Pakistan slid by Rs43,600 per tola (24 karat) on Monday to Rs447,762 as international prices for the yellow metal fell by more than eight per cent to hit their lowest level in four months. This was after gold logged its biggest weekly loss in about 43 years last week, as an …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":95297,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95317"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95328,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95317\/revisions\/95328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}