Gold prices - lowest in two years
By Lalin Fernandopulle
The drop in gold prices will affect sales as people fear that the
price of a gold sovereign could slump by around Rs. 15,000, jewellery
merchants said.Pattakannus (Pvt) Ltd, Chairman and Managing Director
S.A. Thiagarajah said that sales of ready-made jewellery will be
affected as merchants will restrict sales till the price increases.
He said that the price of a gold sovereign dropped from Rs. 52,000 to
Rs. 40,000 during the past 10 days. The price of 24-karat gold rose to
Rs. 60,000 in September 2011. Central Bank sources called upon people to
buy gold and boost their reserves making use of the drop in prices. Gold
prices fell to its lowest level in two years, while wider commodity
prices have also declined following disappointing Chinese economic data.
The price of the precious metal was down 9.2% to $ 1,395 an ounce.
Meanwhile, oil prices fell to a four-month low, with Brent crude down $
2.29 to $ 100.75 a barrel, and the main US share index, the Dow Jones,
ended down 1.8%. Gold prices drop in the global market when the US
dollar is strong.
Analysts said that the explosions at the Boston Marathon contributed
to the fall in share prices.The price of copper and aluminium were also
sharply lower. Copper fell to its lowest level in a year and a half at $
7,085 a tonne and aluminium sank to a three-and-a-half year low.
“The slump in gold prices in the world was due to the sale of gold by
certain countries to bail-out Turkey and many other countries facing
economic crises,” Thiagarajah said.
Gold merchants said that gold sales will not be adversely affected as
there was demand during festive seasons. |