Dubai: Gold jewellery fans in UAE could score some bargains if they head to the shops today, with retail rates having just fallen on the first trading day of the week.
The price for 24-karat gold stood at Dh145 per gram as of 10am, down by nearly Dh1 dirham from Sunday, while 22K, 21K and 18K also dropped by the same margin.
Today’s prices are also still below their peak, and those who are buying a 30-gram 24K gold jewellery piece in Dubai could spend about Dh500 less than they would have last April 3, when the rates stood at more than Dh160 per gram.
Gold rates as of this morning. (Source: Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group)
Spot gold was down 0.5 per cent at $1,196.61 an ounce at 8.41am. The American currency has strengthened after the central bank in China announced a steep cut in the level of cash that banks are allowed to hold as reserves, according to a Reuters report.
Opinions are, however, quite split as to whether the trend will continue for the rest of the week. Some analysts are betting on the precious metal to rally to Dh148 per gram, while others are expecting jewellery rates to decline further.
In the latest survey by Kitco, the majority of professionals in Wall Street (56 per cent) are seeing price rallies this week.
According to Karim Merchant, group CEO and managing director of Pure Gold Group, a strong US dollar, coupled with the recent employment report in the US, has put a pressure on gold.
And if the US economy stays upbeat, the US dollar continues to strengthen and the economic risks in Italy remain in focus, the precious metal is likely to fall further.
“A strong US dollar has worked against the safe-haven metal. The price of crude oil is also rising. The price of gold is inversely proportional to the price of oil and strength of the US dollar,” said Merchant.
“A number of factors could push gold prices down, including the Italian government’s plans to deal with its economic problems that could affect the European Union, price changes or crude oil and continued strengthening of dollar.”
Vijay Valecha of Century Financial said the gold price trend this week will be determined by the reaction of the market to the recently released US non-farm payrolls report.
“This is a number that is keenly watched by analysts across the spectrum as they have huge influence on all asset classes. The most eagerly awaited data point will be wage gains, Any sign of acceleration here can pressure gold prices,” Valecha said.
According to the latest data, there were 134,000 jobs created in the US non-farm sectors in September, just below the estimates of 185,000. The unemployment rate was also at its lowest since 1969.
"Nevertheless, overall the demand for dollar assets should be muted as trade war related concerns fade away and investors starting looking at alternate investments like commodities," said Valecha.
"The thaw in Italian crisis means that the euro, which is a big component of the dollar index, can move higher. Unless, non-farm payrolls report comes across as a big shocker we express UAE price for 24K Gold to rise to 148.00 per gram."
