Gold price firms up at Rs228,600 per tola

ISLAMABAD: Gold price in the country remained unchanged on Monday after surging for nine consecutive sessions, following a consistent surge in the prices in international markets where they stood at all-time high.
According to the data provided by the Karachi Sarafa Association, the price for one tola of 24-karat gold remained unchanged at Rs228,600. Similarly, the price for 10 grams of 24-karat and 22-karat gold remained stable at Rs197,360 and Rs180,913, respectively.
Earlier, gold price in the country surged last week by Rs9,900 (+4.49 percent) per tola. The gold rate for a single tola of 24-karat increased to Rs230,200 from Rs220,300. Similarly, the price of 10 grams of 24-karat gold increased to Rs197,360 from Rs188,872, reflecting an uptick of Rs8,488. Following suit, the price for 10 grams of 22-karat gold surged to Rs180,913 from Rs173,132, reflecting an uptick of Rs7,781.
During the month of February, the price for one tola of 24-karat gold increased by Rs200 to Rs215,700 from Rs215,500 while in January, the price for one tola of 24-karat gold decreased by Rs4,500 to Rs215,500 from Rs220,000.
On the other hand, gold futures in the international market as of 1325 hours GMT were available at $2,178 per ounce, showing a minor dip of $0.60. Out of the $0.60 decrease, -$2.55 was due to strengthening of the US dollar and +$1.95 was due to predominant buyers, according to the Kitco Gold Index.
Gold stayed in a consolidation phase at around $2,180 after setting a new record high of $2,195 on Friday. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield held steady slightly below 4.1 percent, limiting volatility in the gold price. Bulls seemed reluctant to place fresh bets around the precious metal amid extremely overbought conditions on the daily chart and ahead of the release of the latest US consumer inflation figures on Tuesday.
From a technical perspective, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) on the daily chart is flashing extremely overbought conditions. Any meaningful corrective slide is likely to find decent support near Friday’s swing low, around the $2,154 region. A convincing break below might prompt some technical selling and drag the gold price further towards the $2,125 intermediate support en route to the $2,100 round figure.
On the flip side, bulls might now wait for a move beyond the $2,200 mark, above which the gold price will enter uncharted territory and build on its recent strong gains registered over the past month or so. – TLTP