Gold prices plunge in global markets

US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran has been called off. Immediately after this announcement, gold prices in the international market collapsed. On the other hand, oil prices are rising sharply, which has created fears of new inflation and interest rate hikes.

At 4:27 pm Bangladesh time on July 8, the price of gold in the spot market fell by 1.4 percent to $4,49.92 per ounce, the lowest since July 2. In addition, the price of US gold futures for delivery in August fell by 2.3 percent to $4,59.80 per ounce.

Oil prices have jumped more than 6 percent since Trump's announcement of the ceasefire. “The sudden jump in oil prices has raised fears of a renewed surge in inflation, which could affect the policy decisions of the US central bank, the Federal Reserve,” Giovanni Staunov told Reuters.

Gold is generally seen as a hedge against inflation. However, raising interest rates to control inflation puts pressure on this non-interest-bearing precious metal.

“Gold is trending lower this year due to rising geopolitical tensions and the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate hike. As a result, gold prices will remain under pressure in the coming sessions.”

Among other precious metals, silver fell 2.6 percent to $58.45 an ounce. In addition, the price of platinum decreased by 4.1 percent to $1,574.03 and the price of palladium decreased by 4.9 percent to $1,214.96.

Meanwhile, the price of 22-carat gold per bhori (11.664 grams) including VAT in the domestic market is now 225,290 taka. In addition, the price of 21-carat gold per bhori has been fixed at 215,142 taka, 184,758 taka and 150,932 taka per bhori of traditional gold.