A $40 drop in 24 hours has lowered gold prices to their lowest level since the beginning of the year, at around $1,765 an ounce. Overnight, the Dubai Gold Rate was Dh203.25 a gram for 22K, and now it is Dh201.

Gold reached its earliest low on January 28 at $1,788. It would be a 'golden week' for shoppers in the UAE if gold remained at $1,770 - or even went lower. “Gold has taken too long to slip under $1,800 in these two years - and shoppers have been waiting for it.”

In anticipation of a drop in gold prices, many UAE residents had held off on jewelry purchases. These buyers have now been proven right, and they intend to take full advantage of the situation. It is even reported that many resident shoppers, especially those from the Subcontinent, Egypt, and even Turkey, held back their monthly remittances in the hope that gold prices would drop and they could gain an advantage.

Due to the strengthening of the dollar, gold prices fell by more than 2 percent. The decline was further exacerbated by recession fears and (further) increases in interest rates by the Fed. Higher interest rates to tame rising prices have made gold less appealing historically as a hedge against inflation.