Gold prices in the local market fell by about 150 Egyptian pounds ($2.88) during Monday trading, tracking a global slide, with 21-karat gold dropping to about 6,750 pounds ($130) at the time of publication.
Traders and industry officials said the decline appeared to reflect a market correction and profit-taking rather than a collapse, with a stronger dollar, rising US bond yields, and geopolitical tensions all reshaping investor demand for the metal.
In spot trading on global markets on Monday, gold prices fell 2% to about $4,400 an ounce, according to Bloomberg data at the time of publication. That left the metal down about $100 an ounce after reaching about $4,492 in Sunday evening trading.
Hany Milad, head of the Gold and Jewelry Division at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, said the local decline was driven by sharp volatility in global prices, which is directly reflected in the domestic market.
He told Al Manassa that the local market has not yet fully reacted to global changes as bank holidays continue and trading remains sluggish. He said prices may respond more clearly once business returns to normal, adding that it is impossible to say with certainty whether gold will reach specific price levels amid such sharp swings.
Said Embaby, chief executive of the iSagha online gold and jewelry trading platform, said the current drop was the result of overlapping economic pressures rather than a single factor. He said dollar strength remained one of the main sources of pressure on gold, while higher oil prices and tensions in the Strait of Hormuz had added to market anxiety.
He added that rising US bond yields had pushed investors toward fixed-income instruments at the expense of gold, but said the decline still looked like a natural correction within a medium- and long-term upward trend supported by continued global demand, central bank purchases, and geopolitical tensions.
Embaby said profit-taking had also played a major role in accelerating the decline after gold’s strong rally in the previous period.
Ehab Wassef, head of the Gold and Precious Metals Division at the Metallurgical Industries Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said in a press statement that the local market was directly affected by broad selling in global markets as investors moved to raise liquidity, especially with rising US interest rates strengthening the dollar worldwide.
