On the evening of March 18th, 2026 Beijing time, the international gold price took a short-term plunge, breaking through the $4,930, $4,920, and $4,900 thresholds successively. As of March 19th, spot gold continued to decline, falling below the $4,700 mark.
Many investors’ instinctual reaction is that gold prices usually rise during escalated geopolitical conflicts. However, since the outbreak of the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, international gold prices have instead fallen.
In the early hours of March 18th US Eastern Time, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve released a statement maintaining the federal funds target rate range at 3.50% to 3.75%. The statement mentioned, “The impact of the Middle East situation on the US economy is uncertain.”
On the evening of March 18th, the spot gold price in London fell by 3.86% to close at $4,813 per ounce, while futures prices fell by 3.68% to close at $4,823 per ounce.
On March 19th, spot gold continued its downward trend, dropping below the $4,800 and $4,700 thresholds.
As of 19:40 on the 19th (Beijing time), the XAU/USD spot forex market was quoting at $4,670 per ounce, with the decline further expanding.
At the same time, the main contract price of COMEX gold futures was in the range of $4,680 to $4,750 per ounce.
Looking back at the beginning of this month, spot gold briefly surpassed $5,400 per ounce intraday but then retraced, showing an overall volatile downward trend.
The decline in international gold prices has also led to a decrease in domestic gold jewelry prices. On March 19th, Chow Tai Fook quoted 1,503 yuan per gram for gold jewelry, Chow Sang Sang quoted 1,492 yuan per gram for gold jewelry, and China Gold quoted 1,489 yuan per gram for gold jewelry, all hitting recent lows.