Gold prices rise by Tk 1,516 per bhori in local market

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File photo of Gold bar Mahmud Hoassain Opu/Dhaka Tribune


The latest rise comes five months after the last price hike of the precious metal in the country

The prices of all kinds of gold increased on Wednesday by Tk 1,516 per bhori, in line with the international market, Bangladesh Jewellers’ Samity (BAJUS) said in a statement.

The latest rise comes five months after the last price hike of the precious metal in the country.

In its statement, BAJUS said the price per gram of 22carat gold was set at Tk4,200, and it will be sold at Tk48,988 per bhori from Wednesday.

It was sold at Tk47,472 per bhori even on Tuesday. One bhori is about 11.66 grams.

As per the new price chart, 21carat gold per bhori will be sold at Tk46,656, while 18carat gold per bhori will go for Tk41,640.

The traditional (sanatan) category of gold price remains unchanged, at Tk27,585 per bhori, while 21 carat silver costs Tk1,049 per bhori.

Ganga Charan Malakar, president of BAJUS, told the Dhaka Tribune that the decision to increase gold prices was made as prices had gone up in the international market.

According to businessmen in the jewellery industry, 22 carat gold contains 91% metal, while 21 carat gold contains 87%, and 18 carat gold 75%.

International figures

On January 2, the international price of spot gold rose by 0.28% to $1,285.71, eclipsing a six-month high of $1,284.

US gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,287.80 per ounce.

Among the other precious metals, palladium dipped 0.77% to $1,254.30 per ounce.

Silver was down 0.13% to $15.42 an ounce, while platinum remained unchanged at $791.40 per ounce.

The rise came even as US President Donald Trump signalled the possibility of making a deal to end the partial US government closure.

“It looks very optimistic and fundamentally supportive for gold as the overall mood is still very uncertain and the market confidence is still weak on global growth worries,” said Benjamin Lu Jiaxuan, a commodities analyst at Phillip Futures.

“The global economy has entered into an uncharted territory, considering the fact that the Chinese data was worse than expected,” said Kunal Shah, head of research at Nirmal Bang Commodities in Mumbai, India.

“With uncertainties on global economy and geopolitical concerns, it’s just a matter of time gold is going to shoot up.”

Markets were looking for views from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the US economic outlook and hints about rate hikes in 2019 when he participates in a joint discussion with former Fed chairs Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke on Friday.

Also looming are a closely-watched survey on US manufacturing due on Thursday, followed by the December payrolls report on Friday.

There are expectations that a three-year rate hiking cycle in the United States has come to a close. Markets currently expect no rate hikes next year.

A halt in interest rate increases would be beneficial for non-interest bearing bullion.

Source: Dhaka Tribune.