Gold Slides as US-Iran De-escalation Sparks Risk-On Shift; XAU Tests $4,500

Gold has fallen sharply since early March, with the selloff accelerating after headlines pointed to a US-Iran de-escalation and traders rotated into risk assets. Bitcoin stayed near the $70,000 area, diverging from XAU as gold pulled back from its late-January peak near $5,600 per ounce and consolidated around $4,500.