Oil Shock Sends Gold Prices Plummeting to $4,053

Gold prices took a sharp hit on Thursday, dropping to $4,053.40 an ounce after briefly touching a two-week high of $4,165.87 earlier in the session.

The decline erased gains built on geopolitical anxiety as Brent crude jumped 6.5 percent to reclaim the $100-a-barrel threshold for the first time since late May, settling at $100.05.

Rising oil prices are a double-edged sword for gold, typically stoking haven demand but feeding inflation expectations that reinforce bets on tighter monetary policy, a toxic mix for a non-yielding asset.