Gold bars [Reuters=Yonhap News file photo]

International gold prices have recorded their largest quarterly decline in 13 years over the past three months.

According to Reuters on the 30th (local time), spot gold was trading at $4,027.03 per ounce as of 1:40 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time, up 0.3% from the previous session.

During the day, the spot gold price hit a low of $3,943 per ounce, marking its lowest level since last November.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery closed at $4,038.50 per ounce, down 40 cents from the previous session, remaining largely unchanged.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the price of near-month gold futures fell 13.4% during the second quarter, marking the largest quarterly decline in 13 years since the second quarter of 2013.

The newspaper also noted that silver futures fell 20.4% in the second quarter, the largest quarterly drop since January 2020.

Concerns over rising inflation, fueled by the aftermath of the war in Iran and other factors, have led to expectations that major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), will shift toward hawkish monetary policies, thereby driving down international gold prices.

Since gold does not pay interest or dividends, its price relative to the U.S. dollar tends to fall when real interest rates in the United States rise.

Edward Meir, an analyst at brokerage firm Marex, explained, "U.S. inflation remains well above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, and the market anticipates that the Fed will either keep interest rates higher for longer or even consider further rate hikes."