Dubai: Gold stays firm, 24K trades at Dh219.75 per gram

Dubai - Investors await US jobs data

Gold prices were underpinned by a subdued dollar on Tuesday morning, with investors looking ahead to US non-farm payrolls data, which could be key to the Federal Reserve’s tapering decision.

Gold was trading at $1,816.29 per ounce, down 0.13 per cent, at 9.30am UAE time.

In the UAE, 24K opened at Dh219.75 per gram on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, 22K, 21K and 18K were trading at Dh206.5, Dh197.0, and Dh169.0, respectively.

Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AVA Trade, said the yellow metal is trading firmly above the $1,800 price mark, which is bullish for the precious metal.

“Traders are looking at the 100-day SMA as the last meaningful resistance before the rally picks up more momentum. The surge in gold prices is primarily because traders know that the Fed isn’t going to increase the interest rate anytime soon, and there are strong chances that the tapering process may only begin at the end of this year. This particular narrative has brought weakness in the dollar index, which is helping the gold prices,” said Aslam.

The dollar hovered near two-week lows against a basket of currencies, steadying from falls after Fed chief Jerome Powell gave no signal regarding the central bank’s tapering timeline except that it could be this year.

Gold is considered a hedge against inflation and currency debasement in the wake of massive stimulus measures.

The US non-farm payrolls report for August is due on Friday. The market is expecting an increase of 728,000 jobs, unemployment to fall to 5.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent and average hourly earnings to rise 0.4 per cent month-on-month.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai