Gold dips to Rs 54,000

KATHMANDU, NOV 22 - 2013

Local bullion prices cooled down in a reflection of international trends with gold dropping Rs 1,600 per tola. The Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (Fenegosida) on Thursday set the price of the yellow metal at Rs 54,000 per tola (11.664 gm). On Wednesday, gold traded at Rs 55,600 per tola.

Similarly, silver became cheaper by Rs 40 per tola. Silver traded at Rs 865 per tola on Thursday, down from Rs 905 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile in the international market, gold traded at US$ 1,283.17 per ounce on Thursday. World prices stood at US$ 1,247.53 per ounce on Sunday. Fenegosida maintained Sunday’s prices till Wednesday since the Nepali market was greatly affected by the Constituent Assembly (CA) polls.

“As we fix the rates based on international trends, prices have dropped in the market here,” said Mani Ratna Shakya, president of Fenegosida. “As prices in the international market remain volatile, we cannot predict local prices until tomorrow morning.”

Meanwhile, the sharp fall in gold prices is expected to bring smiles to wedding shoppers. Gold sales jump during the marriage season which lasts from mid-November to mid-December due to large purchases to make bridal jewelry.

Traders say that the market witnesses a growth of over 100 percent during the month compared to normal times. Demand remains on the high side until mid-February.

“Due to the CA election, people were too preoccupied to visit the bullion market to buy gold . We are expecting a huge rise in sales from now onward,” said Shakya. Demand for the precious yellow metal is certain to remain high throughout the country, he added.

However, political stability will play a crucial role in the performance of the bullion market, he said. “Demand will definitely be higher. However, if there is political stability, it will be much greater than expected,” said Shakya.

While the usual daily requirement of gold in the local market is estimated to be 15-20 kg, it jumps to more than 40 kg during the period mid-November to mid-December.

Considering the surge in demand during this time of the year, Nepal Rastra Bank has permitted banks to import 20 kg of gold daily until mid-December.

The central bank allows banks to import only 15 kg of gold daily during other times.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Rupee continues to weaken against dollar

KATHMANDU, May 18, 2013

Nepali rupee weakened by 40 paisa against US dollar this week as the Indian currency, with which rupee is pegged, weakened. Despite depreciation of local currency, gold became cheaper by Rs 1,840 per 10 grams over the week.

Currency

Currency trading opened this week with exchange rate of US dollar fixed at Rs 87.55 on Sunday. The local currency shed 42 paisa to close at Rs 87.97 on Monday after Indian currency weakened following increased demand for the greenback from importers in India. Rupee continued its losing streak on Tuesday as well as the local currency shed 24 paisa to settle at Rs 88.21. Though rupee bounced back gaining 36 paisa on Wednesday, it lost 9 paisa to close at Rs 87.94 on Thursday. Rupee lost another 1 paisa to close at Rs 87.95 on Friday - the last trading day of the week.

According to news agencies, dealers have attributed Indian rupee´s fall to dollar gains against the Euro and Yen overseas but a higher opening in the domestic stock market capped the fall.

Nepali rupee however gained 88 paisa against Euro, and Rs 1.22 against British Pound this week. On Friday, Euro was exchanged at Rs 113.12 while British Pound was valued Rs 133.88.

Bullion

Gold became cheaper by Rs 1,840 per 10 grams over the week, thanks to drop in prices in the international bullion market. The yellow metal was traded at Rs 42,655 per 10 grams on Friday.

Bullion trading had opened this week with gold priced at Rs 44,495 per 10 grams on Sunday. Gold price dropped by Rs 255 on Monday to Rs 44240 per 10 grams. But the price went up by Rs 85 per 10 grams to Rs 44,325 per 10 grams on Tuesday. Gold dropped Rs 430 per 10 grams a day later to close at Rs 43,895 on Wednesday. They yellow metal became cheaper by a whopping Rs 1,025 per 10 grams on Thursday.

According to Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Associations, gold price dropped in the local market mainly due to the improvement in the US economy and the global share market and increase in bank interest rates in countries like Australia, Japan, and European states.
On Friday also, gold price went down by Rs 215 per 10 grams to close the week´s trading at Rs 42,655 per 10 grams.

The price of silver also recorded a drop of Rs 38.5 per 10 grams over the week. On Friday, silver was traded at Rs 733 per 10 grams.

Source: Republica

Gold price suffers biggest single day fall

APR 16 - 2013

Triggered by a huge downfall in the international market, the domestic market witnessed the biggest single day drop in price of gold on Monday.

The precious yellow metal was traded at Rs 45,010 per 10 gm (Rs 52,500 per tola), down from Rs 47,840 for 10gms on Sunday.

This is the biggest drop in the price witnessed by the domestic bullion market so far. Earlier in mid-November 2011, price of gold had fallen by Rs 2,155, per 10 gm, the second biggest fall in the price. It could bring a huge relief to those tying knot as people have been compelled to spend massively on gold purchases.

Gold price in the international market dropped dramatically as investors across the globe started opting to put their money on property, equity and fixed deposits. News agencies have reported that the improvement in the US economy, coupled with the Euro and Cyprus issues, has led to investors shifting from gold to equities and other investment avenues.

Reuters reported that gold dropped as much as 6.3 percent on Monday to below $1,400 per ounce for the first time since March 2011 as the market’s downward momentum gained speed after more than four months of investor selling.

According to Manik Ratna Shakya, general secretary of Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers Association (FNEGOSIDA), the current bullion price has come down to the level that was at the same period last year. The price of the precious metal had hit a record high of Rs 53,275 in September 2012.

“Due to volatility in gold price in the international market, the price has been going down continuously in the recent days,” said Shakya. “It might drop further on Tuesday but is unlikely to go down drastically as today.”

Despite massive downturn in gold price, gold traders claimed that sales dropped dramatically on Monday compared to Sunday. They said people are expecting further drop in price. “People are confused and are in wait-and-watch mode, predicting the price to go down further,” said Narendra Kumar Gupta, chairman of Shree Riddhi Siddhi Jewellers.  Manish Pradhan, director of Arsi Jewellers echoed Gupta. “Compared to Sunday, our sales have fallen down significantly.”

Despite the current drop in demand, trade pundits predicted a short supply of gold in the market in the near future. “There isn’t much demand now despite the beginning of wedding season. But once the price starts to pick up after a possible further fall, the market will witness shortage of gold .” Gupta said, pointing to trends of Nepali customers who prefer buying gold when the price starts going up after a slip.

The ceiling on gold import imposed by the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) too is likely to contribute to the possible bullion shortage, traders said. The traders have long been demanding to increase the current quota of 15kg but the central bank has been resisting it.  “The current daily import quota is insufficient even during normal days,” Shakya said.

He added that the failure of Agriculture Development Bank to supply gold in the local market on Monday would worsen the crisis, once the demand starts swelling. The bullion traders have planned to meet Finance Minister Shankar Koirala to request him to increase the quota.

Source: The Kathmandu Post

Gold loses glitter, price drops to 10-month low

KATHMANDU, APR 05, 2013

The domestic precious metal market saw the price of gold plunge by Rs 900 in a week due to the retreating price in the international bullion market.

As the price of gold sunk to $1,550 in the global market, the price in the domestic market has been determined at Rs 55,700 for a tola (11.664 grams) — the lowest in last 10 months — as the price had reached to this level on February 21 and July 13, 2012.

Following the United States Federal Reserve’s zero-rate policy, risk assets of the equity markets in the US have become attractive and as a result investors are moving funds to these instruments for short-term gains. The aversion of a full blown Cyprus banking crisis has also reduced the appeal of gold at present. Moreover, Credit Suisse has also cut gold price forecasts for this year and next — reducing its 2013 price estimation on gold to $1,580 from $1,740 an ounce.

Earlier in September, the price of gold had reached Rs 61,760 per tola as its price shot up worldwide to $1770 per troy ounce. United States’ Federal Reserve back then had revealed its plans to purchase $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities per month until it saw a substantial improvement in the employment picture.

Nepal imported gold worth Rs 15.5 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year. Government allows only banks to import 15 kilos of gold per day. Traders have been asking the government to increase the quota saying the supply is half the demand.

Source: THT

Gold roars to a new high; nears Rs 60,000 per tola

KATHMANDU, Sep 3, 2012

After a brief reprieve last week, gold continued its record-setting spree climbing to a new high of Rs 59,900 per tola (11.664 grams) in the domestic market on Sunday - the first trading day of the week.

Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers´ Association (Negosida), which fixes gold and silver prices in the domestic market, increased gold price by Rs 900 per tola on Sunday compared to Friday when the yellow metal was traded at Rs 59,000 per tola.

“International bullion prices determines gold and silver prices in the domestic market. We had to raise price of gold after the yellow market rallied in the international market on Sunday,” said Diyesh Ratna Shakya, secretary of Negosida. “Glittering gold is turning shoppers away ahead of the festive season.”

Gold, which was priced at US $1,655 per troy ounce during early trading on Friday, gained $36 per troy in the international bullion market on Saturday.
According to Shrestha, gold price is increasing in international market as investors are looking to safe haven due to slowing global stock market.

Traders said demand for gold in the capital has dropped to around 10 kg a day, almost half of average daily demand recorded a month ago.

“It would be difficult for bullion traders to sustain business if gold sales did not pick up during upcoming festive season of Teej, Dashain, Tihar and Chhath,” Pramod Ratna Shakya, proprietor of New Road-based Tejmin Jewelers, said.

Price of silver has also increased by Rs 40 per tola. Silver was traded at Rs 11,145 per tola on Sunday.

Source: Republica