Gold in UAE: Buy or hold? Prices are set to rise as more big rate hikes loom
Yellow metal rising after hovering earlier at $1,700-an-ounce mark after 3 weekly declines
Dubai: Although the price of gold dropped slightly Monday morning, commodity analysts currently evaluate how buyers can't afford to wait for prices to get lower, as the expectation is for the yellow metal to get costlier as more economies raise rates worldwide in the days and weeks to come.
In the UAE, the cost of 24-karat gold was at Dh207.50 per gram on Monday. Meanwhile, the price of 22-karat gold fell to Dh195 per gram, 21-karat to Dh186 and 18-karat to Dh159.50 in the UAE. Check the latest gold rates here.
UAE gold shoppers have got another window of opportunity with the local gold rate for 22-karat at Dh195 a gram, and within touching distance of the lowest for this year to date of Dh191.75 on July 21.
Globally, the bullion has mainly fluctuated between $1,700 an ounce and $1,720 in September after several months of declines, and closed Friday with its first weekly gain in four.
"Gold has once again bounced back after taking support near $1,700/oz, but may struggle with the continuing emphasis on aggressive monetary tightening," said Ravindra Rao, head of commodity research at India-based Kotak Securities Ltd.
Support from a weaker US dollar and uncertainties stemming from China's virus concerns and Europe's energy crisis is being countered by global monetary tightening, ETF outflows and worries about Chinese consumer demand, he said.
US central bank officials last week seemed to point to another super-sized rate rise of 75 basis points in September. The European Central Bank lifted rates by 75 basis points last week, and is prepared to do the same when the committee meets in October.
Spot gold was trading little changed at $1,714.88 an ounce from its close on Friday.