Gold slumped to the lowest in more than six months as the dollar rallied amid growing recession fears that caused losses across risk assets.

The greenback surged to the highest in more than two years as investors retreated to the haven, putting pressure on bullion. US stocks briefly slumped more than 2 per cent amid fears that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes to damp inflation could cause a slowdown in the world’s largest economy.

A pronounced drop in the euro also aided the dollar’s gain, driven by bets that the European Central Bank will be slower to tighten monetary policy than the Fed. Recession concerns in the bloc are particularly acute due to fears Russia will cut supplies of natural gas. 

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed 1 per cent. Gold fell 2.3 per cent to US$1,767.53 an ounce, the lowest since December in intraday trading. Silver and platinum slid, while palladium was little changed.