Global markets went through a sharp repricing this week. Gold dropped more than 10% in a single week, with spot prices falling below $2,500 per ounce, its worst weekly performance since 1983. Oil moved the other way: Brent crude climbed back above $110, while Dubai spot crude was assessed at a record $157.66 a barrel. Bitcoin, in contrast, found support near $69,000 and bounced back above $71,000.
Gold slumps while oil extends its rally
According to the source material, gold has fallen more than 18.5% from its late-January record high of $5,589, with this week’s low reaching $4,477. Oil kept advancing. Citi said Brent could rise to $120, and prices have already gained more than 40% since tensions in the Middle East escalated.
The move in Dubai crude stood out as well. Its spot assessment moved past Brent’s 2008 record high of $147.50, showing how heavily supply concerns are shaping trading. The market focus remains on shipping disruptions and the risk of tighter flows.
Three pressures hit gold at once
The report points to three drivers behind gold’s sell-off. First, the Federal Reserve turned more hawkish. Its latest rate projections showed just one rate cut in 2026, below what the market had expected. Second, the Middle East conflict pushed inflation expectations higher. Disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz affected roughly one-fifth of global oil shipments, adding pressure through higher energy prices.
The third factor was a stronger U.S. dollar. As interest-rate expectations were repriced, the dollar index rose and weighed directly on dollar-denominated gold. Taken together, those forces stripped gold of the safe-haven support it had been relying on.
Bonds and equities weaken, Bitcoin outperforms again
The pressure was not limited to gold. Government bond markets also sold off, with U.S., UK, and German yields all hitting multi-year highs as deleveraging picked up. Bloomberg described war-driven reductions in rate-cut expectations as the core reason financial conditions tightened so quickly. U.S. stocks fell for a fourth straight week, and the Nasdaq dropped more than 2% in a single session, with tech shares broadly under pressure.
Bitcoin moved in the opposite direction. The report said it held firm near $69,000, then rebounded to $71,000 and posted gains for five consecutive days. That marked a third straight week of Bitcoin outperforming gold, with a weekly gap of 12 percentage points.
Wintermute trader Bryan Tan said Bitcoin had already outperformed gold by about 20% since the early stage of the Middle East conflict. Spot Bitcoin ETFs also recorded $700 million in net inflows this week, one of the stronger weekly readings in recent periods. The source also noted that market volatility may persist while the Fed’s policy path and the Middle East situation remain unresolved.