Kathmandu, September 23

The price of precious metals see-sawed in the week between September 17 and 22, owing to outcome of US central bank meeting, followed by rising tensions between North Korea and the United States.

Gold price had recovered from a four-week low on Friday as investors sought a safe haven from geopolitical uncertainty caused by rising tensions between Pyongyang and Washington. Bullion is often used as a refuge in times of political or economic turbulence, while assets considered risky such as stocks are dumped.

North Korea said on Friday it might test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean after Trump vowed to destroy the country, with leader Kim Jong Un promising to make a ‘mentally deranged’ Trump pay dearly for his threats.

“Gold took quite a beating after the US Federal Reserve meeting but now the market got the news about North Korea and now investors are moving back in gold,” Reuters quoted Jens Pedersen, a Danske Bank analyst, as saying.

Earlier this week, the Fed signalled it was still on track to raise interest rates by the end of the year. This weighed on gold as tighter monetary policy raises the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

In the domestic market, the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (FeNeGoSiDA) had fixed gold price at Rs 56,700 per tola when the market opened for trading on Sunday. Gold price dropped by Rs 200 a tola each day for the next two days to be traded at Rs 56,500 per tola on Monday and Rs 56,300 a tola on Tuesday. On Wednesday, however, bullion price rose by Rs 200 per tola to be traded at Rs 56,500 a tola. The price of precious yellow metal dropped by Rs 300 per tola to be traded at Rs 56,200 a tola on Thursday, but recovered the loss the very next day to close the week at Rs 56,500 per tola on Friday — Rs 200 a tola less than in the beginning of the week. Moreover, compared to previous Friday’s close of Rs 57,100 per tola, gold price dropped by Rs 600 a tola.

Similarly, FeNeGoSiDA had set rate of silver at Rs 775 per tola on Sunday and its price remained unchanged the next day. On Tuesday, the price of silver dropped by Rs 15 a tola to be traded at Rs 760 per tola. Silver price bobbed for the remainder of the week — up five rupees a tola to Rs 765 per tola on Wednesday, down five rupees a tola to be traded at Rs 760 per tola on Thursday and up five rupees a tola again on Friday to close the week at Rs 765 per tola. Compared to Sunday’s price, the grey metal shed Rs 10 a tola by the end of the week, but against previous Friday’s rate of Rs 785 per tola, silver price fell by Rs 20 a tola  in the six trading days of the review period.