Gold loses shine, price drops by Rs200 per tola

By
Business Desk
|
A salesman shows gold necklaces to a customer at a jewellery showroom in Kolkata, India, August 10, 2020. — Reuters/File
A salesman shows gold necklaces to a customer at a jewellery showroom in Kolkata, India, August 10, 2020. — Reuters/File 

  • Price of gold settles at Rs131,200 per tola and Rs112,483 per 10-gram.
  • Cumulatively, gold had gained Rs2,600 per tola during the last four sessions.
  • Gold rates in Pakistan are around Rs7,000 below cost.


KARACHI: Gold lost its shine after four days of registering gains as the price of the yellow metal dropped by Rs200 per tola and Rs171 per 10-grams.

The price of gold settled at Rs131,200 per tola and Rs112,483 per 10-gram on Thursday.

Cumulatively, gold had gained Rs2,600 per tola during the last four sessions (March 5-9).

Analysts had earlier said gold, traditionally considered a safe store of value during global crises, could make another run toward an all-time high of Rs132,000 that hit on October 26, 2021, if the situation worsens.

Gold is the ultimate antidote to stagflation — economic recession with high inflation — which is increasingly plausible if things keep escalating.

Gold rates in Pakistan are around Rs7,000 below the cost compared to the rate in the Dubai market.

Meanwhile, silver prices in the domestic market remained unchanged at Rs1,480 per tola and Rs1,268.86 per 10 grams today.

Gold rises in the international market

In the international market, gold stayed above the key $2,000 level as worries over the Russia-Ukraine crisis persisted after no progress was made in talks between the two sides, while key US inflation data is also likely to provide direction.

Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,004.89 per ounce after tumbling as much as 3% on Wednesday. US gold futures were up 1.2% to $2,011.

"Gold bulls have shown little qualm in catapulting prices higher on signs the Ukraine crisis could drastically worsen the global economic outlook," Han Tan, chief market analyst at Exinity said.

The foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine met on Thursday in Turkey, the highest-level contact between the two countries since the war began on February 24; however, news conferences made clear they had made no progress.

A rush to safe-haven assets earlier this week due to the Ukraine crisis powered gold prices to near-record levels hit in August 2020.

Analysts said some of that risk premium was unwound in the last session and early on Thursday.


— With additional input from Reuters