Gold miners have borne the brunt of a sharp sell-off in bullion, with shares in major producers falling steeply as gold dropped to its lowest level in a year. The move underlines how quickly a falling gold price can feed through to mining stocks, even for companies that had benefited from years of strong prices.

Last week gold fell to $3,885.70 a troy ounce, its lowest level since 3 October 2025, according to The Motley Fool Australia. That left the metal down around 30% from its January all-time high of $5,379 an ounce, a retreat linked in the report to high energy prices and inflation strengthening expectations of another US interest rate rise.

Higher yields weigh on gold

Higher interest rates and bond yields are difficult for gold because the metal pays no interest, making it less attractive when bonds offer a return. The report notes that the US 10-year bond yield surged to a 24-year high of 5.36% in early October before pulling back below 5%, while Australia's 10-year yield hit 5.4% and stood at around 5.2%.

Miners fall on both sides of the Pacific

In Friday's overnight trade in the United States, Barrick Mining fell 4.3% and Newmont fell 4.6%. In Australia on Monday, the S&P/ASX All Ordinaries Gold Index opened approximately 2% lower, with Newmont's local listing down 3.5% and Northern Star and Evolution Mining down 3% at the time of writing.

A separate Australian market report for Monday 2 November corroborated the pressure, noting gold miners were easier with Northern Star down 4.8%, even as bullion prices rose in Asian trade.

Sources: The Motley Fool Australia; Beeks Downunder market report, 2 November 2026.