KARACHI: Prices of gold increased in the domestic and international bullion market following improved demand from hedgers and Gold Futures speculation on day’s physical price parity. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 54,421 per tola, up by Rs 30 per tola. In grammage term, gold moved up by Rs 28 per ten grams to stay at Rs 46,707 per ten grams. Gold rebounded previous’ day fall to climb by $1 an ounce to close at $1,314 an ounce on buying by investors. Generally investors turn to gold whenever dollar starts declining and oil prices move higher, they added. Investors had naturally to allocate money to sectors that would make money, either in stocks or in bullion market. However, the escalation of gold prices in the local markets is not proportionate with the upsurge in international markets, he said. This is because the demand for gold declines locally whenever it turns dearer globally. He said gold prices could drop further before marching towards this month’s peaks. Gold was trading in local markets at cheaper rates than Dubai and Saudi Arabia, where people have purchasing power. Here the purchasing power of general public has fallen, so they don’t buy gold when it gets expensive because it is not an essential item. Published in Daily Times, March 18th 2018.