Gold
Gold had hit close to $1,990/oz this week and the sentiment was it would easily go for $2,000. Early on Wednesday, it is trading at $1,943 levels, raising shoppers' hopes for a break ahead of Eid shopping. Image Credit: Gulf News Archive

Dubai: Will UAE’s gold shoppers get a price break before Eid? International bullion prices slipped early Wednesday to $1,943 an ounce levels, which meant the Dubai Gold Rate is at Dh221 a gram for 22k - that down by more than Dh5 a gram in the last 48 hours.

Will this be enough for shoppers to return, and make those gold and jewellery purchases in time for Eid? Gold retailers say it might need another round of price drops for shoppers to be convinced. “They are looking for the Dubai Gold Rate to drop to around Dh220 a gram – that would be the trigger,” said a market source. “Shoppers need to be convinced that enough of a price drop has happened from the $1,975 levels that was there Monday.”

In fact, briefly, gold had surged to around $1,990 and the impression was that breaching $2,000 an ounce for a second straight month was a certainty. So, Wednesday’s price dip has come as something of a relief for shoppers and retailers.

Analyst's view on where bullion is heading
"Gold still looks vulnerable and failure of $1,940 could see more speculative long positions getting culled and gold falling to $1,915 an ounce. However, gold’s price action of the past few weeks has been quietly signalling risks, be they (global) inflation or geopolitical, have been increasing.

"Nothing I can see has changed that fact, and thus, the correction lower could be an opportunity to load up again at much better levels."

- Jeffrey Halley, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda