Gold price slipped while silver rose higher in the trading week betweenFebruary 18 to 23.

Federationof Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (FeNeGoSiDA) attributed the dropin price of gold to strengthening of US dollar and market volatility.

The associationhad set the rate of gold in the domestic market at Rs 57,900 per tola whenthe market opened for trading on Sunday. Its price rose by Rs 100 a tola toRs 58,000 per tola on Monday. However, the price of theprecious yellow metal fell by Rs 200 a tola each day for thenext two days to be traded at Rs 57,800 per tola on Tuesdayand Rs 57,600 a tola on Wednesday. Bullion price remainedstable for the remainder of the week.

FeNeGoSiDAhad fixed the trading rate of silver at Rs 740 per tola onSunday and its price edged up by five rupees a tola to Rs745 per tola on Monday. On Tuesday, though, silver pricedipped by five rupees atola to be traded at Rs 740 per tola andremained the same the next day. The grey metal edged up by five rupees a tola toRs 745 per tola on Thursday and was unchanged on Friday.

High localprices hit physical gold demand in India this week while activity in most otherAsian centres remained subdued due to the Lunar New Year holiday, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile,Asian shares rebounded on Friday as comments from a Federal Reserve officialeased worries about faster rate rises in the United States.

St Louis FedPresident James Bullard tried to tamp down expectations of four rate hikes in2018, instead of the widely anticipated three increases, saying on Thursdaythat policymakers needed to be careful not to increase rates too quicklybecause that could slow the economy.

Financialmarkets have fluctuated wildly this month as investors fretted about how fastthe Fed might raise rates after official data showed a pick-up in US inflation.Fears of inflation boost gold, which is seen as a safe haven against risingprices. But hikes in interest rates to fight inflation make gold lessattractive as it is not interest-yielding.

Source: The HimalayanTimes, 25^th Feb 2018