Daily Times

Gold prices remained volatile during the last session of the week and ended up slightly down. Gold in the international market was available at $1,786.70 per ounce after shedding $2.70 at the end of the session. Meanwhile, the price of 10 grams of yellow metal in Pakistan decreased to Rs101,700 after shedding Rs900. Gold in the local market was available at 102,600 per 10 grams on Friday last.

The decrease in local gold price was due to overnight depreciation in international gold price when the local market was closed, as the difference is adjusted on the following day in the local market.

The intense flight to safety amid cases of the new Covid variant is causing US Treasury bond yields to fall sharply and fuelling gold’s rally. The 10-year bond coupon drops the most since July and its two-year counterpart marking the heaviest fall since March 2020 amid fears over the Covid-19 variant. The US 10-year Treasury dropped 2.2 basis points (bps) to 1.64 percent after refreshing monthly high the previous day even as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes said, “Some participants said faster tapering could be warranted.”

According to experts, concerns about the new Covid-19 variant weighed on market sentiment and is looking to affect monetary policy expectations. The restrictions announcements across Europe pushed equity and crude oil prices sharply to the downside. They said that initially, gold reacted to the upside, boosted by lower US yields. The rally was limited and it retreated, affected by the global sell-off and a mixed US dollar.