Gold climbs, cotton settles

KARACHI: Gold prices climbed in local markets as shoppers returned, ahead of Eid holidays. Price of one tola of the precious metal rose to a week’s high of Rs39,750 on Friday, falling by Rs200 on Saturday, to end the week at Rs39,550. Price of 10 grams of gold ended the week at Rs33,900, up by Rs225 compared to the previous week.

In international markets, gold continued its rally and prices touched $1,250, just $15 below its all-time high. But analysts expect international demand to taper off in the coming week as employment data from US non-farm markets showed less-than-expected job losses.

The fall in job losses for August, after three months of record rises, is treated as a sign of slight economic recovery which is expected to entice investors to move away from the yellow metal towards riskier investments.

Meanwhile, activity simmered down in local cotton markets and the rates settled after days of volatility following the flooding in Punjab. Cotton prices had surged as high as Rs7,100 per maund (37.324 kg) during trade last week. However, the spot rate dropped from Rs6,550 on Monday to Rs6,350 per maund on Saturday in Punjab. In Sindh, the spot rate dropped by Rs100 over the week to close at Rs6,200 per maund.

Analysts said most buyers had held back on new purchases this week, preferring to wind down stocks in last days of operations before the holidays, asserting that the extent of losses would be clearer after holidays.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2010.