London /Damascus, Sept. 28 (SANA) Gold fell 3 percent to a more than seven-week low on global markets Monday as higher oil prices fueled inflation concerns and expectations of higher U.S. interest rates, while the price of 21-carat gold in Syria fell by 400 Syrian pounds per gram.
Spot gold dropped 3 percent to $4,156.45 an ounce by 0814 GMT, its lowest level since Aug. 5, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 3.1 percent to $4,188.80 an ounce, Reuters reported.
Higher oil prices have renewed concerns about inflation and strengthened expectations that U.S. interest rates could remain elevated. Higher rates and yields tend to weigh on gold by increasing the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding metal.
UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo told Reuters that rising oil prices and increasing expectations that markets could price in further U.S. interest rate increases were the main drivers of gold’s recent weakness.
Traders were pricing in a 70.3 percent probability of a Federal Reserve rate increase in October, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. The U.S. central bank raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point earlier this month.
Investors are awaiting U.S. labor-market and inflation indicators this week for further clues on monetary policy.
Other precious metals also declined. Spot silver fell 4.8 percent to $61.17 an ounce, platinum dropped 2.4 percent to $1,735.88, and palladium lost 2.2 percent to $1,239.60, according to Reuters.
Gold declines in Syrian market
In Syria, the price of 21-carat gold fell by 400 Syrian pounds per gram compared with Sunday, according to a bulletin issued Monday by the General Authority for Precious Metals Management.
The authority set the selling price of 21-carat gold at 16,100 ($132) Syrian pounds per gram, with the buying price at 15,800 pounds ($130).
For 18-carat gold, the selling price was set at 13,800 Syrian pounds per gram ($113), while the buying price stood at 13,500 pounds ($111).
The authority put the international gold price used in its bulletin at $4,165 an ounce.
Gold prices in the Syrian market are influenced by movements in international bullion prices and exchange rates, as well as local supply and demand. The authority issues regular bulletins setting approved buying and selling prices.
KA/RK
