Kathmandu, November 25

The price of precious metals dipped in the week between November 19 and 24 as some investors locked in profits at the end of the week, but there are expectations that they could move higher next week.

Gold was supported by the release of the US Federal Reserve’s minutes on Wednesday, regarded as ‘dovish’ and which lowered market expectations slightly of a March rate hike. A December rate hike has already been priced in.

The Fed’s cautious view of inflation could lead to a longer period of low interest rates which provides a solid platform for gold investment, said Cameron Alexander, an analyst with Thomson Reuters-owned metals consultancy GFMS.

Higher interest rates tend to boost the dollar and push bond yields up, putting pressure on gold prices by increasing the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

The buying of physical gold remained thin in major Asian centres in the week as higher prices dented demand, though seasonal demand was expected to boost activity in top consumer China next month, according to Reuters.

In the domestic market, the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (FeNeGoSiDA) had set gold price at Rs 56,400 per tola when the market opened for trading on Sunday and it remained the same the next day. Bullion price tumbled by Rs 400 a tola to be priced at Rs 56,000 per tola on Tuesday and fell by Rs 200 a tola to be traded at Rs 55,800 per tola on Wednesday. The precious yellow metal recovered some of the loss by rising Rs 400 a tola to Rs 56,200 per tola on Thursday, but dipped again by Rs 100 a tola on Friday to end the week at Rs 56,100 per tola.

Similarly, FeNeGoSiDA had set the rate for silver at Rs 775 a tola on Sunday. The grey metal dipped by five rupees a tola to be traded at Rs 770 a tola on Monday and dropped by Rs 10 per tola to Rs 760 a tola on Tuesday. Silver price remained stable on Wednesday before edging up by five rupees per tola to Rs 765 a tola on Thursday and remained unchanged on Friday.