Kuwaiti company: Gold prices down to USD 2018 ounce

KUWAIT, Jan 28 (KUNA) -- Gold prices dipped to USD 2018 an ounce at last week's trading, recording losses for two consecutive week, Dar Al-Sabaek reported on Sunday.

Dar Al-Sabaek said that the positive American economic data negatively affected the price of gold, as investors turned their to the US market after the personal consumer spending index rose by 2.6 percent.
It added the US economy improvement lines with the expectations of economists to slow inflation pressure and thus ease the US Federal Reserve (the Central Bank) of its tough measures towards raising interests on the Dollar, which leads to increased optimism in future rises for the US stock market.
The US economy has shown more flexibility despite higher borrowing costs amid expectations that the United States will make the first interest rate cut next May, noting that investors are awaiting the comments of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, which will be released soon, which could provide more information about the beginning of the interest rate reduction cycle. All these factors led to a decrease in the price of gold in global markets, as future prices of gold stabilized at USD 2017 per ounce for February delivery after reaching USD 2028 in a clear sign of a decrease in speculative appetite in the precious metals market as stock market recovered.
This week, data will be released on the US monetary policy and labor market data amid a state of anticipation of the conflict in the Middle East and events in the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab Al-Mandab, all of which directly affect gold prices.
On the local market, the report stated that the price of a gram of 24 caliber reached KD 10.13 (about USD 61.3), while the 22 caliber reached KD 18.4 (about USD 56.1), silver closed at USD 270 (about USD 823) per kilogram. (end) smr.dss.