Gold price in Pakistan surges in line with international market

• Yellow metal gains Rs1,200 to settle at Rs125,200 per tola and Rs1,029 to rise to Rs107,339 per 10 grams in local market.
• The price of gold in the global market increases by $23, settling at $1,813.
• Gold gains as concerns about regarding the spread of a new coronavirus variant drives investors to the safety of bullion.

KARACHI: The price of gold resumed its uptrend in the domestic market and rose by Rs1,200 to close at Rs125,200 per tola on Friday in line with the surge in the international bullion market.

The increase came on the back of a decline in the rupee value against the US dollar, which closed at Rs175.46 in the interbank market.

The yellow metal gained Rs1,200 to settle at Rs125,200 per tola and Rs1,029 to rise to Rs107,339 per 10 grams in the domestic market.

A day earlier, the precious commodity closed at Rs124,000 per tola and Rs106,310 per 10 grams.

In the international market, gold gained as concerns about a hit to the global economic recovery, due to the spread of a new coronavirus variant identified in South Africa, drove investors to the safety of the bullion.

The price of gold in the global market increased by $23, settling at $1,787.

The variant spreading in South Africa possibly evades immune responses and has prompted Britain and the European Union to halt travel from the African nation.

"Markets fear this new variant could weigh more strongly on the economy than the Delta variant discovered a year ago and this has spurred some safe-haven demand for gold," Quantitative Commodity Research (QCR) analyst Peter Fertig said.

On a weekly basis though, the metal was heading for its worst week since August 6 on increased expectations that the Fed could taper its asset purchases and raise interest rates at a faster pace.

Meanwhile, silver prices in the domestic market remained unchanged at Rs1,460 per tola and Rs1,251.71 per 10 grams.