Dubai: Gold prices rise, 22K trades at Dh205 per gram

Spot gold was up 0.25 per cent at $1,801.11 per ounce at 9.10 am UAE time.

Gold prices rose above $1,800 level on Thursday morning, supported by a pullback in US bond yields as investors looked forward to key central bank meetings for clues on whether they would consider tightening monetary policy earlier than thought.

Spot gold was up 0.25 per cent at $1,801.11 per ounce at 9.10 am UAE time. In the UAE, 24K was trading at Dh218.25 per gram, up Dh0.75 per gram from Wednesday’s close. Among the other variants of the precious metal, 22K was trading at Dh205.0 per gram, 21K at Dh195.5 and 18K at Dh167.5 on Thursday morning.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AVA Trade, said $1,800-price mark is an important price point that boosts the confidence among gold bulls.

“Demand for physical gold continues to increase, and the evidence of this was in China's net gold import, which soared by 60 per cent last month. The number was at the highest level in nearly five months, and this means that the second-biggest economy of the world is more interested in buying gold, which should continue to help the prices in the long run,” said Aslam.

In the third quarter of 2021, demand for gold fell 7 pe cent year-on-year and 13 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 831 tonnes worldwide, primarily due to outflows from gold-backed exchange-traded funds (gold ETFs), according to the World Gold Council’s latest Gold Demand Trends report.

Consumer purchases of gold jewellery increased 33 per cent year-on-year to 443 tonnes.

Meanwhile bars and coins – a category of physical gold products overwhelmingly bought by retail investors – saw a fifth consecutive quarter of year-on-year gains, with 262 tonnes purchased in Q3. Gold used in technology grew 9 per cent year-on-year, and central banks added 69 tonnes to their reserves.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com 

• Dubai