ALBAWABA — Gold prices slipped on Friday, as investors reacted to the United States Federal Reserve delivering a 0.25 interest rate hike that suggests milder inflationary pressures lie ahead.
On the international market, spot gold was down 0.29 percent at $1,910.80 a troy ounce, at 3:18pm UAE time.
The precious metal prices dropped in the United Arab Emirates in line with global rates on Friday.
The Dubai Jewelry Group data showed 24K gold price in the midday session at Dh232 per gram as compared to yesterday’s opening at Dh236.5 per gram.
Similarly, 22K, 21K and 18K also opened higher at Dh214.75, Dh208 and Dh178.25 per gram, respectively.
"Although Powell (Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve) said rate hikes might continue, the market expects the Fed not to be drastic anymore, which is supporting gold. However, we will soon see some profit booking and bullion continues to face resistance at the $1,960 level," Brian Lan, managing director at GoldSilver Central, told Reuters.
“What Powell said and what the markets heard seemed very different overnight,” Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told MarketWatch. “Higher for longer would, all things equal, put pressure on non-yielding gold,” he said.
Also pressuring gold prices, was the market’s sudden retreat into the London bullion benchmarking auction, which “shows that the New Year jump in gold prices was driven far more by Comex and Shanghai speculation than by physical demand,” Ash concluded.
