Strong greenback takes toll on gold price

The strong dollar coupled with international price hike have spoiled the party of the domestic gold traders.
“Stronger dollar pushed the price of precious yellow metal up in the domestic market,” said Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (NEGODISA) general secretary Manik Ratna Shakya.

“The rising gold price is hurting the trade before the marriage season,” he said adding that the price in the international market is also increasing.

The precious metal — in the international market — was traded at $1,178 per ounce on Sunday but it went up to close at $1,210 on Friday. Though, it had touched a high of $1,245 per ounce.

Taking the cue from the international price, the domestic market also witnessed price fluctuation, though the price has increased by only Rs 555 per 20 gram during the week.

On Sunday, 10 gram of gold was sold at Rs 29,625 which did not change till Tuesday but on Tuesday

it looked up to Rs 30,110 and hit the another record high on Wednesday as it was traded at Rs 30,605 for 10 gram.
The market has witnessed a record price of Rs 35,700 per tola (11.664

gram) also due to strong dollar against the rupee on Tuesday. On the closing day — today — however gold price came down to Rs 30,180 per 10 gram.
Similarly, silver opened at Rs

per 10 gram for the week but decreased to Rs 463 per 10 gram on Monday. On Tuesday it continued to decrease to Rs 460.5 before rebouncing by Rs 13.5 to Rs 474 per 10 gram to close today. The US dollar — that has shot the price of precious yellow metal — had decreased from Sunday’s Rs 75.96 to Rs 75.29 on Friday. On Tuesday, it was at its highest — in the week — to Rs 76.44 pushing the gold price up.
According to Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), dollar fluctuated throughout the week before settling at Rs 75.29 at the end of the week.

The US dollar is gaining strength, currently as most of the European countries are going through economic crisis. The Greece crisis has spread to other Eurozone nations making it difficult for the EU to cope up with.

The investors have been after the gold as a hedge against their weak currency and crisis looming large in EU.

The experts have estimated the precious yellow metal to touch $1400 per ounce if the crisis situation continues in the Eurozone countries making the euro more weaker.