Gold worth Rs. 114 billion was traded in December 2022 with people seeing more value in adding the commodity to their portfolios.
According to KASB Securities, the amount roughly translates into 81,000 tolas or 944 kilograms of the precious metal traded last month by local investors/traders.
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Prices remained bullish after trade resumed on Tuesday, with international gold prices hitting a 6-month high. Gold is seeing further growth, and the $1,830 level appears to be a magnet. However, with liquidity a bit low this time of year, it appears to be technical rather than fundamental buying.
At the time of filing, spot gold was up 0.8 percent at $1,838.69 per ounce in global markets. In Pakistan, the gold rate is Rs. 157,400 per 10 grams, which can be interpreted as Rs. 183,600 per tola as today’s peak rate for the precious commodity.
In other markets, spot Silver ramped up by 1.1 percent to $24.25, while Platinum increased by 0.8 percent to $1,077.98. Conversely, precious Palladium decreased by 0.1 percent to $1,792.21.
In concept, gold is regarded as a safeguard against inflation and economic uncertainty, but rising interest rates raise the opportunity cost of holding gold, which pays no interest. Keeping that in mind, the dollar and yield movements will be important for the gold market in 2023.
The de-dollarization seen by several central banks last year, when they purchased a record amount of gold, appears set to keep going, providing a soft floor under the market. The controlled scarcity of US dollars in Pakistan is a major issue for traders, who are forced to sell precious metals at even higher prices, and gold rates are nonetheless expected to rise sharply with each closing bell.
