Gold price drops by Rs50 per tola despite depreciation in rupee

• Gold price drops by Rs50 per tola to reach Rs125,400.
• Bullion rates in Pakistan are around Rs500 below cost.
• Silver prices in the domestic market remain unchanged.

KARACHI: Gold price in Pakistan dropped by Rs50 per tola in Pakistan despite rupee depreciation — which dropped by 0.43% against the US dollar on Monday.

According to All Sindh Saraf Jewellers Association (ASSJA), gold prices in the local bullion market dropped by Rs50 per tola to reach Rs125,400, while the price of 10 grams gold decreased by Rs42 to reach Rs108,368.

A day earlier, the precious commodity closed at Rs126,450 per tola and Rs108,410 per 10 grams.

However, it is pertinent to mention that the gold rates in Pakistan are around Rs500 below the cost compared to the gold rate in the Dubai market.

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

Gold eases from 3-month highs in international market

Gold prices fell on Monday as the US dollar advanced, with worries around the Russia-Ukraine crisis limiting losses of the safe-haven metal and keeping palladium traders on tenterhooks.

Spot gold fell 0.3% to $1,855.40 per ounce. On Friday, prices jumped the most since mid-October and hit their highest level since November 19. US gold futures rose 0.8% to $1,857.40.

"Gold had a classic safe-haven jump on Friday...(but) the problem with safe-haven spikes is that they never really last for that long," said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.

"At this point, gold is taking a breather waiting for further news on the geopolitical front."

Russia might create a surprise pretext for an attack on Ukraine, the United States said on Sunday. However, Moscow denies any such plans and has accused the West of "hysteria", even as it has more than 100,000 troops massed near Ukraine. 

"We also believe that any further escalation of the situation will deter the Fed from raising interest rates by 50 basis points in March, as this could spark excessive turmoil on the financial markets," Commerzbank said in a note.

— With additional input from Reuters