Dubai: Gold prices rise, 24K trades at Dh217.25 per gram

Spot gold rose 0.09 per cent to $1,793.60 per ounce at 9.10 am UAE time.

Gold prices rose slightly on Tuesday morning as investors wait for the outcome of a policy meeting of the US central bank for clues to how it will fight growing inflationary pressures and worries over weaker economic growth.

Spot gold rose 0.09 per cent to $1,793.60 per ounce at 9.10 am UAE time. In the UAE, 24K gold price opened at Dh217.25 per gram on Tuesday morning, up Dh1.25 per gram from Monday morning price. While 22K, 21K and 18K opened at Dh204.25, Dh194.75 and Dh167.0 per gram, respectively.

Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, expects gold to remain pressured in an environment of central bank tightening, with the US Federal Reserve most likely to announce the start of stimulus tapering in Wednesday's meeting.

Elevated price and wage increases may challenge the Fed as they try to strike a balance between containing inflation and supporting a recovery in jobs lost since the pandemic.

"But, provided US 10-year yields continue to trade around current levels, suggesting a weaker growth outlook in bondholders' minds, gold could remain supported," Innes told Reuters.

Benchmark 10-year yields have held above 1.5 per cent but retreated from the multi-month highs of around 1.7 per cent hit last month.

Innes said central banks were unlikely to start an aggressive rate hike campaign given the weaker economic data such as the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) survey on Monday that showed US manufacturing activity had slowed last month.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai