Gold prices edged lower on Thursday and dropped to a near one-month low during the early part of trading. Gold in the international market was available at $1,778.50 per ounce after shedding $4.20 at 1210 hours GMT. The price of 10 grams of yellow metal in Pakistan, meanwhile, increased to Rs100,900 after gaining Rs400. Gold in the local market was available at Rs101,500 per 10 grams on Wednesday last. The increase in gold value in the local market was due to overnight change in the commodity’s price when the local market was closed as well as depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar. Growing conviction that the Fed will tighten its monetary policy sooner rather than later to contain stubbornly high inflation drove flows away from the non-yielding yellow metal. In fact, the money markets indicated that the Fed could begin lift-off in June and hike rates thrice in 2022. Apart from this, a solid rebound in the US equity futures further undermined the safe-haven gold. This, to a larger extent, offset concerns about that economic fallout from the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and did little to lend any support to the commodity.