Kathmandu, July 25

Gold and silver prices slumped heavily in the week by a whopping Rs 2,300 and Rs 10 per tola, respectively, from July 19 to 24.

Gold price tumbled heavily in the domestic market tracing the downtrend of the global market. Gold price has been on a downward spiral in the international market due to the strengthening of the US dollar in expectation of a US interest rate hike. Price of gold in the domestic market is fixed as per the rate of the international market.

Consequently, gold and silver prices dropped by 4.64 per cent and 1.49 per cent over the week to settle at Rs 47,200 and Rs 660 per tola, respectively.

The market opened on Sunday with gold price fixed at Rs 49,500 per tola this week. There was no change in the price of bullion in the domestic market on Monday and Tuesday due to the public holiday announced by the government to collect feedback on the draft constitution.

On Wednesday, the price of the precious yellow metal plunged by Rs 1,500 per tola in a single day and was traded at Rs 48,000 a tola. Gold price remained unchanged on Thursday.

With a slump of Rs 800 per tola on Friday, the price of the yellow metal dropped to a four-year low of Rs 47,200 per tola. The last time gold was traded at the current level was back on August 7, 2011 when it was priced at Rs 46,604 a tola.

Likewise, the price of silver also plunged by Rs 10 per tola during the trading week.

Silver was traded at Rs 670 per tola on Sunday — the first trading day of the week. The price of the white metal recorded a loss of five rupees per tola on Wednesday and was traded at Rs 665 per tola.

While silver price remained unchanged on Thursday, the price of the white metal again dipped by five rupees per tola on Friday to settle the week’s trading at Rs 660 a tola, which is a five-year low. The last time silver was traded at a price lower than the current price was on June 13, 2010.