Gold edges up, silver dips

Kathmandu, July 7

Gold price went up, while that of silver nudged down in trading week between July 1 and 6, primarily owing to strengthening of US dollar.

According to the price list of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (FeNeGoSiDA), gold was traded at Rs 57,500 per tola on Sunday. Its price fell by Rs 200 a tola to Rs 57,300 per tola on Monday and by Rs 100 a tola to
Rs 57,200 per tola on Tuesday. Bullion price rose over the next two days, however. It went up by Rs 400 a tola to Rs 57,600 per tola on Wednesday and by Rs 200 a tola to Rs 57,800 per tola on Thursday. The price of the precious yellow metal remained the same on Friday, last trading day of the week.

Meanwhile, silver was traded at Rs 765 a tola on Sunday. Its price fell by five rupees per tola each day for the next two days to be traded at Rs 760 a tola on Monday and Rs 755 per tola on Tuesday. The price of the grey metal went up by five rupees a tola each day for the next two days to be priced at Rs 760 per tola on Wednesday and Rs 765 a tola on Thursday. On Friday, however, silver price fell by five rupees per tola again to close week at Rs 760 a tola.

In neighbouring India, gold was sold at a premium during the week after a drop in domestic prices boosted demand, while buyers elsewhere in Asia were sidelined, waiting how the escalating trade tensions between the United States and China would evolve, traders said.

Gold futures in India, the world’s second-biggest gold buyer, were trading at around INR 30,645 per 10 grams on Friday, after falling to INR 30,244 on Tuesday, the lowest since March 20.

“Many buyers were waiting for the correction. As prices have fallen, they started placing orders,” Reuters reported Ashok Jain, a proprietor of Mumbai-based wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji, as saying. But Jain said the weakness in the Indian rupee, which has fallen eight per cent this year and trading near a record low, has capped the decline in local gold prices.

In top consumer China, premiums this week were nearly unchanged from the previous week at $2 to $5 an ounce against the international benchmark.

Fears over the impact of the US-China trade dispute pushed buyers on sidelines, traders said. The world’s two biggest economies slapped tit-for-tat duties on $34 billion worth of the other’s imports on Friday.