Domestic gold rebounds, gains Rs1,300 per tola

January 19, 2024 (MLN): Domestic bullion market witnessed a strong rebound on Friday after enduring three challenging sessions as the price of 24-karat gold in Pakistan increased by Rs1,300 per tola to Rs215,000.

The Karachi Sarafa Association reported that the price of 10-gram 24-karat gold stood at Rs184,328, reflecting a gain of Rs1,115.

While the price of 10-gram 22-karat gold stood at 168,976 as compared to the rate of Rs167,945 yesterday.

Meanwhile, silver remained stable in the domestic market, with 24-karat silver being sold at Rs2,600 per tola and Rs2,229.08 per 10-gram.

On the global front, international spot gold extended its gains from the previous session and is currently trading at $2,027.32 [12:40 am PST], up by $4.6 on the day.

Despite witnessing an uptick today, international gold is on track for its worst weekly performance in the past six weeks, driven by diminishing rate-cut expectations.

The move lower for commodity prices came as central bankers continued their forceful push-back against market bets for interest rate cuts, deepening a global selloff across stocks and bonds as well, Bloomberg reported.

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governing Council member Klaas Knot warned on Wednesday that aggressive bets on interest-rate cuts are not helping policymakers in the battle to subdue inflation.

That followed comments on Tuesday from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who urged caution on the pace of easing.

Swaps market pricing for a Fed rate cut in March has dropped to around 65% from 80% on Friday, while money markets pushed back bets on the timing of the ECB’s first quarter-point cut to June, from April.

As a result, the U.S. Dollar and bond yields strengthened over the week. Since gold has an inverse relationship with yields and the dollar, prices witnessed a substantial drop.

It is crucial to note that the international rate, reported at the time of issuing local rates, was up by $13, incorporating today's gains along with the increase witnessed since yesterday's issuance of local rates.

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