S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) gold shares are suffering on the market today.
Gold companies in the red include Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN), Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM).
Let's look at what could be impacting ASX 200 gold shares today.
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Gold prices
Gold prices descended to their lowest level in six months amid the stronger United States dollar and recession fears, Bloomberg reported.
Spot gold lost 1.9% overnight to trade at $1,766.4 per ounce in US markets. However, the gold price is now recovering to US$1,769 per ounce.
TIAA Bank president of world markets Chris Gaffney told CNBC, "there are more attractive alternatives" to gold. In earlier trade in the US, spot gold fell 2.6%.
ASX 200 gold shares are sinking in response. Evolution Mining shares are currently down 4.58%, while Newcrest Mining is falling 5.62%. Meanwhile, the St Barbara share price has dropped 6.7%.
City Index senior market analyst Matt Simpson is predicting there could be "more pain ahead for gold" in comments provided to The Motley Fool.
On the gold outlook, Simpson said:
That the 'gold VIX' (GVZ) rose to a 3-week high and prices are already down 2% this week suggests margin calls are being attended to, as gold is clearly not behaving as any sort of safe haven.
Share price snapshot
The Evolution Mining share price has plummeted 48% in the past year, while Newcrest has slipped 22%. St Barbara shares have dived 55% in the same timeframe.
For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Materials Index (ASX: XMJ) has fallen 13.47% in the past year.
