Kathmandu, January 13

Gold saw modest gain, while silver price remained fairly stable during the trading week in between January 7 and 12.

Investors seemed drawn to the precious yellow metal towards the end of the week as dollar continued to drift lower following news that Chinese officials had recommended the country slow or halt its purchases of US bonds.

The greenback fell against the euro on Friday on an agreement for a political coalition in Germany. The news from Germany helped the euro to extend gains made on Thursday after minutes from a December European Central Bank (ECB) meeting signalled that the ECB could begin to wind down its 2.5 trillion euro ($3 trillion) stimulus programme this year.

Reuters reported physical gold demand remained lacklustre across top Asian centres this week, however, as buyers were put off by a rally in prices. ‘But the approaching Chinese New Year could stimulate buying interest’.

In the local market, the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (FeNeGoSiDA) had set trading price of gold at Rs 56,200 per tola when the market opened on Sunday. Its price dropped by Rs 100 a tola to be traded at Rs 56,100 per tola on Monday, but recovered the loss the very next day to be priced at Rs 56,200 a tola. On Wednesday, bullion price fell by Rs 200 per tola to be traded at Rs 56,000 a tola. The price of the precious metal, however, went up by Rs 400 per tola to Rs 56,400 a tola on Thursday and by Rs 200 per tola to Rs 56,600 a tola on Friday.

Gold price went up by Rs 400 per tola by the end of the week when compared to its trading rate on Sunday.

Meanwhile, silver price remained mostly stable during the review period. FeNeGoSiDA had set silver price at Rs 750 a tola on Sunday and its price remained unchanged for the next two days. The price of grey metal see-sawed for the next two days — dipping by five rupees per tola to Rs 745 a tola on Wednesday and edging up by five rupees per tola to Rs 750 a tola on Thursday. On Friday, though, silver price was stable.