In the shadow of an anticipated Federal Reserve rate hike, gold prices in Pakistan fell sharply on Friday even as international markets staged a modest recovery — a divergence that speaks to the enduring tension between local investor sentiment and global monetary policy. When central banks raise the cost of money, assets that offer no yield must justify their place in a portfolio through other means: as hedges against inflation, as refuges in uncertainty, as stores of value across generations. For now, the arithmetic of opportunity cost is winning, and Pakistani gold holders are watching thei