Gold prices have fallen sharply on international markets, retreating to their lowest levels since November 2025 and erasing approximately eight months of accumulated gains. The metal has declined more than 13 percent over one month and more than 22 percent from its January 2026 peak. In Morocco, the correction has transmitted directly to the local market, with the price per gram falling from nearly 1,400 dirhams for certain models at the start of the year to around 970 dirhams today, with premium items reaching a ceiling of roughly 1,100 dirhams.
The price decline has not, however, stimulated demand. Instead it has produced what jewelers and market observers describe as a two-sided paralysis. On the supply side, many Casablanca jewelers purchased their inventories at or near the peak and are reluctant to sell at current prices without crystallizing significant losses. They are choosing to wait in the expectation of a recovery rather than convert stock into cash at a discount.
On the demand side, consumers who might otherwise be attracted by lower prices are equally hesitant. The prevailing view among buyers is that prices could fall further, making immediate purchase financially suboptimal. The result is a standoff in which both market participants prefer inaction — creating conditions of unusually low transactional volume across Morocco’s gold retail sector.
Households that purchased gold as a store of value or an inflation hedge at or near the peak are also absorbing losses. Some bought in the expectation that the upward trend would continue, reasoning along lines of investment rather than pure consumption. Those who paid close to 1,400 dirhams per gram now face a meaningful paper loss with no clear timeline for recovery.
The price dynamic carries an apparent paradox: gold is falling despite an ongoing armed conflict in the Middle East — a geopolitical environment normally associated with safe-haven demand. The explanation lies in the specific character of the current conflict. When hostilities principally drive up energy and food costs, the resulting inflation leads markets to anticipate a more restrictive stance from the US Federal Reserve, reinforcing the dollar and pushing bond yields higher. Both outcomes weigh structurally on gold. The near-term outlook for Morocco’s gold market therefore depends less on battlefield developments than on how American monetary policy expectations evolve.
