Dubai: Gold price drops, but still trades above $1,800

Dubai - Spot gold fell 0.16 per cent to $1,805.62 per ounce by 9.20 am UAE time.

Gold prices fell on Tuesday morning due to an uptick in the dollar but the precious metal was still trading above the $1,800 per ounce level.

Spot gold fell 0.16 per cent to $1,805.62 per ounce by 9.20 am UAE time. On Monday, the metal rose nearly one per cent to a high of $1,809.66, only about $4 shy of an over one-month peak scaled last week.

In the UAE, 24K was trading at Dh218.5 per gram on Monday morning, falling by Dh0.5 per gram from Monday’s close. Among the other variants of the precious metal, 22K was trading at Dh205.25 per gram, 21K at Dh195.75 and 18K at Dh167.75.

Jeffrey Halley senior market analyst for the Asia Pacific at OANDA, said there is no doubt that gold price is becoming more constructive towards further gains.

“The rally is made more impressive by the fact that the US dollar has continued strengthening against the major currencies overnight. In contrast, US bond yields eased across the curve, and it looks like gold is taking its cues from them for now,” he said.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AVA Trade, said gold prices jumped above the $1,800 level after yields on short-term treasury bonds dropped after Jerome Powell, chairman of the US Federal Reserve, indicated that inflation could persist longer than expected. “This update fuelled expectations of a sooner than expected interest rate hike to check surging commodity prices,” he said.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai