ISLAMABAD
\nGold price in the country snapped a three-week winning streak and declined by Rs2,000 (-0.91 percent) in line with a dip in the international rates.
\nThe gold rate for a single tola of 24-karat decreased to Rs218,000 from Rs220,000 during the week, according to the data shared by Karachi Sarafa Association and All Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA). Similarly, the price of 10 grams of 24-karat gold closed at Rs186,900 against Rs188,615 at the start of the week, reflecting a dip of Rs1,715. Overall, the gold price increased by Rs4,400 per tola in the preceding three weeks.
\nIn global markets, gold closed the week at $2,045.30 per ounce against $2,062.20 in the preceding week, showing a week-on-week decrease of $16.90 (-0.82 percent).
\nThe Pakistani rupee continued making slight gains against the US dollar for the eighth week in a row and improved by 46 paisas in the interbank market and Re1 in the open market.
\nSince gold is denominated in the US dollars, when the local unit appreciates against the greenback, the value of gold in the local market decreases if all other factors remain the same. As global gold prices remained on a downward trend during the week under review, the price of yellow metal went down relatively more (-o.91 percent) in the country during the week as compared to the global market (-0.82 percent).
\nIn global markets, the action remained subdued on Tuesday as trading conditions started slowly to normalize following the long weekend. As the US dollar staged a technical rebound following the dismal performance seen in the last couple of weeks of 2023, the gold prices closed the day in negative territory.
\nOn Wednesday, the US ISM Manufacturing PMI improved to 47.4 in December from 46.7 in November. Moreover, the number of job openings in November remained 8.79 million, down from 8.85 million in October. The US dollar benefited from risk aversion and the gold prices dropped to their lowest level in nearly two weeks at $2,030.
\nThe Automatic Data Processing (ADP) reported on Thursday that US private sector employment rose by 164,000 in December. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield climbed above 4 percent after this data and didn\u2019t allow gold prices to stage a meaningful rebound.
\nSimilarly, the monthly data published by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics showed on Friday that Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) rose by 216,000 in December, surpassing the market expectation for an increase of 170,000. Although the initial reaction provided a boost to the US dollar, underlying details of the jobs report didn\u2019t allow the currency to preserve its strength. In turn, gold prices recovered back above $2,045 after falling below $2,030 with the immediate reaction.
\nFrom a technical perspective, the short-term outlook for gold hinges on the US inflation data for December, which could influence the Federal Reserve interest-rate outlook and trigger a big reaction in the gold prices this week. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicator on the daily chart advanced to 60 on Friday, pointing to a bullish tilt in the near-term bias. $2,060 (static level) aligns as a pivot level for the gold prices. In case the yellow metal starts using that level as support, it could target $2,080 and $2,100 next.
\nOn the flip side, the 20-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) and the ascending trend line coming from early October form a key support level at $2,040. If gold falls below this level, $2,020-$2,015 (50-day SMA) and $2,000 (psychological level) could be set as next bearish targets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Gold price in the country snapped a three-week winning streak and declined by Rs2,000 (-0.91 percent) in line with a dip in the international rates. The gold rate for a single tola of 24-karat decreased to Rs218,000 from Rs220,000 during the week, according to the data shared by Karachi Sarafa Association and All Pakistan […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-379424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n