The gold rate in Pakistan today does not appear in the latest market note as a rupee price per tola. Business Recorder reported that spot gold rose 0.3 percent on Monday to $4,206.01 an ounce as of 0253 GMT, after reaching its highest level since October 2 earlier in the day. US gold futures for December delivery gained 0.3 percent as well, to $4,230.40. In Pakistan, household talk of gold commonly starts from that international ounce price and then turns to the quote at the shop.
Softer dollar, lower oil
The report links the rise to a softer dollar and to cheaper oil. A muted US dollar makes gold priced in dollars easier to buy for people who hold other currencies. Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said softer oil after President Donald Trump’s reported energy ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, together with a more subdued dollar, had “given gold a window of opportunity to the upside to start the week.”
Oil prices fell on expectations of more Russian supplies. Trump said on Sunday that the energy ceasefire was “effective immediately.” Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said he was still waiting to see the details of the deal. Waterer said that as oil eases, “it takes some of the immediate inflation and interest rate anxiety out of the market, which helps gold from a yield perspective.”
US inflation and the Federal Reserve
Investors are waiting for US inflation data this week for clues on the next move by the Federal Reserve, the US central bank. Gold is usually treated as a hedge against inflation. Higher interest rates can still weaken demand for it, because bullion does not pay a yield.
Wednesday’s release is the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of prices paid by households. Thursday brings the Producer Price Index (PPI), which tracks prices received by producers, and retail sales. According to CME’s FedWatch tool, which shows how traders are betting on Fed decisions, there is a 17 percent chance of a rate hike in October and an 86 percent probability of an increase by December.
The report also said US consumer sentiment slumped further in early October. The rising cost of living tied to the Middle East conflict soured households’ view of the economy.
Other metals and the local question
Spot silver rose 0.5 percent to $61.12 an ounce. Platinum gained 1 percent to $1,704.70, and palladium climbed 1.2 percent to $1,161.81.
Business Recorder’s gold price news today in Pakistan is this international update. Readers checking the gold rate in Pakistan today will find the ounce price in the same report. Shop boards still set the rupee price per tola. If dealers lift jewellery and small bars after the ounce rises, the cost of buying gold goes up for households. The note does not measure that rupee gap. It points next to Wednesday’s CPI and Thursday’s PPI and retail sales.
