KATHMANDU, JULY 2

The price of precious metals declined in the trading week between June 26 and July 1.

The headline keeping many investors cautious this week was US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stating that the US central bank could take things too far and potentially risk a recession for price stability. This dented the appeal of the precious metals in the international market, with the effects felt in the domestic market as well.

In the local market, gold price fell by Rs 100 per tola, while silver price dropped by Rs 35 a tola during the review week.

According to the rate list of Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association (FeNeGoSiDA), gold price was fixed at 97,300 a tola when the market opened for trading on Sunday and its price went up by Rs 400 per tola to be traded at Rs 97,700 a tola on Monday. The price of the precious yellow metal remained unchanged on Tuesday. On Wednesday the price of gold increased by Rs 100 per tola to be priced at Rs 97,800 a tola. The price of precious yellow metal decreased by Rs 300 a tola to Rs 97,500 per tola on Thursday before decreasing by Rs 300 a tola on Friday to settle at Rs 97,200 per tola for the week.

Similarly, silver was traded at 1,245 per tola on Sunday and its price went up by Rs 10 a tola to be traded at Rs 1,255 per tola on Monday. Its price remained the same on Tuesday, as per the FeNeGoSiDA. The price of the grey metal decreased by Rs 15 per tola on Wednesday to be traded at 1,240 a tola. Silver price slipped by five rupees per tola to be priced at Rs 1,235 a tola on Thursday and slumped further by Rs 25 per tola on Friday to close the trading week at Rs 1,210 a tola.

According to Reuters, gold fell on Friday en route to a third straight weekly dip as a firm dollar and looming rate hikes soured appetite for the non-yielding asset, while India's import tax hike on bullion also dampened its demand prospects.

Spot gold fell 0.1 per cent to $1,804.81 per ounce by 1:52pm ET (1752 GMT), and declined 1.2 per cent for the week. US gold futures settled down 0.3 per cent to $1,801.5.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 3, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.