Kathmandu, July 29

Gold price remained fairly stable while that of silver dipped slightly in the week between July 23 and 28.

While investors remained cautious in the beginning of the week ahead of the Fed meeting, which curbed demand, gold price had jumped in the international market after the US Federal Reserve said it would start to wind down its massive holdings of bonds ‘relatively soon’, pushing the dollar lower.

The US central bank kept interest rates unchanged as expected and said it was continuing the slow path of monetary tightening that has lifted rates by a percentage point since 2015, the Fed said in a statement following a two-day meeting.

But on Thursday, the price of the precious yellow metal fell in the international market, pressured by the dollar’s bounce on solid US economic data and as traders digested the Federal Reserve’s Wednesday statement

Lower yields decrease the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold, while a weaker greenback makes dollar-priced bullion less expensive for holders of other currencies.

The price of precious metals in the Nepali market is set based on their rates in the international market.

The Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (FeNeGoSiDA) had fixed the rate of gold at Rs 54,400 per tola when the market opened for trading on Sunday. The price of the precious yellow metal remained unchanged for the next two days — Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday, bullion price edged up by Rs 100 a tola to Rs 54,100 per tola and rose by Rs 400 a tola to Rs 54,500 per tola on Thursday. On Friday, however, gold price dipped by Rs 100 a tola to be traded at Rs 54,400 per tola — the same rate at which it was traded in the beginning of the week.

Similarly, FeNeGoSiDA had set the rate of silver at Rs 740 a tola on Sunday and its price remained the same the next day.

On Tuesday, the grey metal shed five rupees per tola to be traded at Rs 735 a tola and its price remained steady on Wednesday.  On Thursday, silver price went up by Rs 10 per tola to Rs 745 a tola.

However, the gain was annulled the very next day, with the grey metal closing the week at Rs 735 per tola — five rupees a tola less than the rate set in the starting of the week.