KARACHI: Gold prices surged in the country following an increase by around $15 per an ounce on the international market, metal dealers said. According to gold dealers the bullion price in Karachi recorded a rise of Rs 605 per ten grams to Rs 42,444 per ten grams. In per tola terms gold price increased by 706 per tola to close at Rs 49,455 per tola. Similarly gold prices in Lahore stood Rs 42,435 per ten grams, in Hyderabad it remained Rs 42,427 per ten grams and in Multan it stood around Rs 42,427 per ten grams, they added. Humayun Ahmad Mani, a dealer attributed the hike in gold prices to the soaring investment demand by strong investors and short supply fears on Fed Reserves rate likely to rise. He said the fund managers pumped more money into commodities ahead of the quarter-end on the international markets. Mr Mani said, the international prices of gold surged more than 5 percent in 2016 on average and kept goldsmiths and the jewellery sector from hefty buying. However the gold hedgers made some cautious deals. The general buyers remained on sidelines anticipating an easing in the price in the coming days on the dollar-rupee parity. Buyers made deals according to their immediate needs. Local trading in gold remained dull on back of insignificant buying. Local dealers said the domestic gold prices are rising in line with the trend of global gold markets. But, the increase is usually not as much as takes place internationally because people stop buying the metal when prices are too high.