Muscat:Spot gold prices dropped by 1.5 percent to $4,223.95 per ounce, while US gold futures also decreased by 1.5 percent to $4,257.90 per ounce.
According to Oman News Agency, the decline in gold prices comes as rising oil prices have heightened inflation worries, leading to reinforced expectations of another interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Earlier this month, the US central bank increased interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to a range of 3.75 percent to 4 percent.
The impact of these economic developments extended to other precious metals as well. Spot silver saw a decline of 2.6 percent to $62.64 per ounce. Platinum and palladium both fell by 2.1 percent, with platinum priced at $1,741.45 and palladium at $1,239.95 per ounce.
