DUBAI, 6 July – Gold prices in the UAE reached its lowest price since the beginning of the year with $1,765 per ounce, after the price dropped by $40 in the last 24 hours, Gulf News reported.
The Dubai Gold Rate was at Dh203.25 per gram for 22K overnight and is now at Dh201.
On January 28, the gold price reached the $1,788 range, the earliest low point for gold pieces in the country.
“If the gold remains at $1,770 – or even goes lower – this would make for a ‘golden week’ for shoppers in the UAE,” a retailer told Gulf News.
“It took way too long for gold to slip under $1,800 in these two years – and shoppers have been waiting.”
Jewellery sources say that many UAE residents had been holding back on purchases in the expectation that gold could drop. Now, they have been proved right, and these buyers intend to take full advantage. (In fact, many resident shoppers – especially those from the Subcontinent, Egypt and even Turkey – were even holding back on their monthly remittances to see whether gold prices would drop and they could take advantage.)
In fact, many “Shoppers had called to lock in their purchase price at around Dh205/gm last week, when gold slipped to $1,798,” said the retailer. “They had hoped it would drop further and they made the sale at a lower price. Then, when gold started this week at $1,809, they were disappointed.
“But now, they are the ones who will benefit the most because they would get it at Dh203 or under.”
In these two years, each time gold prices dropped below $1,800, it was only fleeting. The window of opportunity for shoppers would be limited to about 48 hours max.
Oil’s latest drop has to do with multiple factors, not least that economies run a higher risk of dropping into a recession. Oil prices too are under pressure with the recession talk. The other factor that will have a hand in gold’s short-term direction is the next US interest rate hike in the coming days, and likely setting up another round of gains for the dollar. Will this soften up gold prices further?
“Ultimately, gold prices will go up,” said Anil Dhanak, Managing Director at Kanz. “Unfortunately, right now, the heavy jewellery buyers have gone on vacation and outsiders are not coming much due to summer. That’s the fact.”
Those residents yet to travel will however be trying to help with the gold buying in any way possible.
Source: Gulf News
