UAE: Gold prices plunge in Dubai after Fed meeting

Gold prices fell at the opening of the markets in the UAE on Thursday morning as yellow metal prices slipped globally last night after minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s June meeting kept alive hopes of another rate hike at the end of July.

The Dubai Jewellery Group data showed the 24K trading at Dh232.25 per gram on Thursday morning as against Dh233 per gram at the close of markets on Wednesday. Similarly, 22K, 21K and 18K also opened lower at Dh215, Dh208.25 and Dh178.5 per gram, respectively.

Spot gold was trading at $1,918.59 per ounce.

Investors were waiting for a raft of US economic data that could influence Federal Reserve policy about interest rates. The yellow metal is sensitive to rising interest rates, as they increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

Manish Jaradi, a strategist, dailyFX, said minutes of the Fed meeting showed almost all officials agreed to hold interest rates steady at the June meeting, even though some participants wanted to move ahead with a rate hike.

“Still, 16 out of 18 officials still expected the benchmark interest rate to rise at least another quarter of a percentage point by the end of the year,” said Jaradi.

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