Kathmandu, February 10

The price of precious metals fell in the trading week between February 4 and 9.

The Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (FeNeGoSiDA) attributed the fall to selling pressure due to strengthening of the US dollar, improvement in employment data, drop in oil prices and stock market rout.

The association had set the price of gold at Rs 57,200 per tola when the market opened for trading on Sunday and its price remained same the next day. On Tuesday, gold price went up by Rs 600 a tola to Rs 57,800 per tola. However, the price of the precious yellow metal slumped by Rs 700 a tola to Rs 57,100 per tola on Wednesday and by Rs 500 a tola to Rs 56,600 per tola on Thursday. Bullion price went up by Rs 200 a tola to close the week at Rs 56,800 per tola — down Rs 400 a tola compared to its trading rate in the beginning of the week and Rs 1,000 per tola less when tallied with the trading rate of previous Friday when it was traded at Rs 57,800 a tola.

FeNeGoSiDA had fixed the trading price of silver at Rs 745 per tola when the market opened for trading on Sunday and its price was stable the following day. On Tuesday, the price of the grey metal rose by five rupees a tola to Rs 750 per tola, but fell at the same rate the next day to be traded at Rs 745 a tola on Wednesday. On Thursday, its price dropped by Rs 10 per tola to Rs 735 a tola and remained the same the next day. Silver price dropped by Rs 10 per tola when compared to its trading price in the beginning of the week, while it slumped by Rs 25 a tola against the previous week’s closing of Rs 760 per tola.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that physical gold demand in Asia picked up towards the end of the week, as a pullback in prices spurred purchases ahead of the Lunar New Year in China and the wedding season in India.

“Spot gold has declined about one per cent so far this week and was headed for a second straight weekly drop due to a recovery in the dollar.”

In top consumer China, premiums rose to $9 to $10 an ounce from $6 to $8 last week as demand picked up after prices fell later in the week, traders said.

In Hong Kong, premiums remained unchanged from last week. Demand in Southeast Asia remained strong ahead of the Chinese New Year that starts from February 16, as dealers stocked up in anticipation of strained supply during the festival week when gold refineries and businesses will be on holidays.

Premiums for the precious metal in Singapore were slightly higher in the week, while in Japan, gold was sold at par after being on discount for the past few weeks, according to a Tokyo-based trader.