Time to buy: Gold prices drop further in UAE

Gold prices were trading at near a 2-1/2-year low on Monday, pulled down by a firmer US dollar and major central banks adopting an aggressive stance on interest rates to tame inflation.

Spot gold was down 0.41 per cent at $1,637.35 per ounce, as of 9.25 am UAE time. Prices fell as much as one per cent earlier in the session to hit $1,626.41, their lowest level since April 2020.

In the UAE, 24K gold price fell one dirham to Dh198.25 per gram at the opening of the markets on Monday. Similarly, 22K, 21K and 18K prices opened lower at Dh186.25, Dh177.75 and Dh152.25 per gram, respectively.

Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial, said gold failed last week to break the $1,684 resistance, higher US Treasury yields, and a stronger dollar prevented the yellow metal to recover.

"It's very difficult to construct a bullish case for gold, not until we see a pivot with the Fed, especially with (other) central banks tracing up with the Fed as well," City Index analyst Matt Simpson told Reuters.

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