Gold prices stabilize at $2,039 per ounce

KUWAIT: Gold prices stabilized at $2,039 per ounce in last week’s trading, following the rise of the US dollar and Treasury bond yields, Dar Al-Sabaek said on Sunday. The Kuwaiti company said gold prices were low in the last few weeks, amid the increase in US employment markets, as 353,000 jobs were added in January, compared to more than 333,000 jobs in December 2023.

The US employment markets reached 180,000 jobs, bringing the unemployment rate to stabilize at 3.7 percent compared with the past percentage of 3.8 percent, confirming that an increase in the employment rate means an increase in the US economy rate; therefore, there will be a decrease in safe-haven assets, the report added. World Gold Council data showed that gold was demanded in 2023, which reached 4,899 tons by central banks and the world’s markets.

It showed that the key factor behind the gold demands is the US interest rate cut, despite its constant increase in the last two and a half years, due to the geopolitical tensions in the ongoing Ukraine war, the Zionist occupations in the Gaza Strip, and the events in the Red Sea and Strait of Bab Al-Mandab. On the local markets, the report stated the price of a gram of 24K reached KD 20.46 (around $61.40), whereas 20K reached KD 18.66 (around $56.9), and silver closed at KD 269 (around $820) per kilogram.

The US dollar rises

Meanwhile, the exchange rate of the US dollar on Sunday rose to KD 0.307, while the euro dropped to KD 0.331, compared to Thursday’s prices, said the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK). The CBK added in its daily bulletin that the Pound Sterling dropped to KD 0.388, the Swiss Franc to KD 0.355, and the Japanese Yen to KD 0.002.