Gold rates continue to go up in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The per tola rate of 24 karat gold increased by Rs 2,300 and was sold at Rs 250,400 on Monday compared to its sale at Rs 248,100 on last trading day, ARY News reported.

The price of 10 grams of 24 karat gold also increased by Rs 1,972 to Rs 214,678 from Rs 212,706 whereas the prices of 10 gram 22 karat gold went up to Rs 196,788 from Rs 194,980, the All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association reported.

The rate of per tola and ten gram silver remained constant Rs2,850 and Rs2,443.41, respectively.

The price of gold in the international market increased by $25 to $2,439 from $2,414, the association reported.

Gold prices hit an all-time high on Monday, as a slowing U.S. inflation trend boosted expectations the Federal Reserve could deliver its first interest rate cut soon, while silver scaled a more than 11-year peak.

Spot gold rose 1% to $2,438.44 per ounce, as of 0811 GMT, after hitting a record high of $2,449.89 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures rose 1.1% to $2,442.60.

Data last week showed signs of cooling inflation and traders now expect a 65% chance of a U.S. rate cut by September.

The dollar index remained subdued, making greenback-priced bullion more attractive to buyers holding other currencies.

A soft U.S. dollar and expectations the Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates soon has helped gold prices, said Kyle Rodda, a financial market analyst at Capital.com.

Bullion is known as an inflation hedge, but higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

“Gold prices sneaked in a cheeky record high ahead of China’s (market) open on Monday. Yet as the move has not been confirmed with by a weaker U.S. dollar, it seems to have been caught in a tailwind from higher metals futures on China’s exchanges,” said City Index senior analyst Matt Simpson.