Gold settles above USD 1,600 per ounce last week

The price of gold kept above USD 1,600 per ounce last week but failed to cross the USD 1,641 mark, said the latest specialized report by Al-Zummorroda Jewellery Group. The overall trading in gold was down in all bourses and the price was between USD 1,600 and 1,640 an ounce, influenced by the holiday's season, by investors adjusting their positions, and by profit-taking before the end of the year. It predicted more focus on gold in early 2012 amid anticipation over the ramifications of the global financial crisis. This forecast is inspired by hike in price from USD 1,612 per ounce to 1,641 on Wednesday on the heels of hikes in European stocks and rise in euro value against the US greenback. This improvement was also due to the EU central bank's bringing up loans to EU banks to 489 billion. However, any return to a series of hikes would depend on good news from the euro zone. The gold keeping to this range for two weeks made investors doubt the yellow metal's balloon would soon burst, which is possible short-turn since gold fluctuates in line with the euro and in the opposite direction of the dollar. On the long-run, the report said gold remains the true safe-haven commodity. As for silver, the report said it kept to the same course of gold, sliding down within the USD 29 per ounce range. In comparison to gold, the white metal saw periods of great demand when price slipped below USD 29. With fluctuation in price within a wider margin than other metals, silver is most appealing to investors, and is favored also as an industrial metal. Should good news come from the euro zone, it is not unlikely it would top USD 33 per ounce, the report indicated. Platinum, too, came up to reach USD 1,625 per ounce, which is a hike of USD 10 since last week. Palladium was up USD 39 to reach USD 665 per ounce. The sales in gold in the local market were vigorous with the holiday season, and 21 carat gold came to KD 12.5 per gram, while 18 carat gold came to KD 10.75 per gram. A kilo of pure gold kept to its price, just below KD 14, 500. The report noted particular interest in small gold items, and smaller bullion bars as well, starting from five grams and all the way up to 100 grams, with current prices considerably enticing compared to the past few months.