Dubai: Gold continued to ease on Tuesday, dropping to its lowest level in 14 days, as investors keep a tight watch on central bank meetings this week.
The United States Federal Reserve is scheduled to meet on March 15 to 16, while the Bank of Japan’s policy board is set to have a separate meeting this week. Results of the two crucial meetings are expected to have an impact on precious metal prices.
As of Tuesday morning, the price of 24-carat gold in Dubai settled at Dh149 per gram, down by Dh3.50 or 2.3 per cent from more than a week earlier (March 6). The price of 22K was fixed at Dh139.75, while 21K and 18K traded at Dh133.25 and Dh114.50, respectively.
The precious metal, however, is still trading 16 per cent higher compared to December 31.
In the global market, spot gold dipped 0.5 per cent to $1,228.56 an ounce by 0649 GMT, while US gold dropped 1.3 per cent to $1,229.10 an ounce. Spot gold earlier in the session fell to $1,225.70 an ounce, its lowest since March 2, according to Reuters.
"We have experienced the lowest fall in gold price in the last two weeks because of speculative profit taking plus market volatility in anticipation of the the US Fed meeting this week," Karim Merchant, managind director and CEO of Pure Gold Jewellers told Gufl News on Tuesday.
Gold had been posting a stellar performance since the beginning of the year, owing to the uncertainty in the global markets. The precious metal climbed to its highest in 13 months during the first week of March.
However, analysts have warned that if the US Federal Reserve starts increasing interest rates, the precious metal could become more volatile.
Gold also failed to gain support recently from the global equity markets, which rose over the past few days. (With reports from Reuters)
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With reports from Reuters
