KATHMANDU, Nov 28: After holding firm at the peak for three straight days, the price of gold finally went down by Rs 350 per tola (11.664 grams) on Wednesday, bringing some respite to the seasonal buyers.
Gold price had hit the new high of Rs 61,850 per tola on Sunday, hurting buyers who were preparing for the ongoing wedding season that kicked off 10 days ago.
The price finally lowered to Rs 61,500 on Wednesday, said Tej Ratna Shakya, president of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers´ Association (Negosida) that fixes the price of gold in the local market. Though the drop is pretty nominal, Shakya said it still has relieved the buyers psychologically. "When it is record high price, buyers become nervous just like that. Drop in price has definitely relieved them," Shakya told Republica.
Negosida officials attributed the latest hike and Wednesday´s drop mainly to the price movement in the international market. "Weakening of Nepali rupee vis-a-vis US dollar too had contributed in the price rise. But the drop is solely attributed to international price slide," said Shakya.
The gold price had soared sharply to US$ 1,750 per troy ounce in the international market mainly as currency market faltered in the pretext of talks on easing Greece´s debt burden, a major problem of euro zone. But it dipped to about $1,736 per troy ounce after US fiscal worries overshadowed progress in easing Greece´s debt burden, Reuters reported.
Despite the price fluctuation, bullion traders said the demand for yellow metal continued to remain high due to wedding consumption. "In fact, the demand is so high, we are simply failing to fulfill it," said Shakya.
According to Negosida, the daily demand for gold has jumped to 40 kg with the onset of wedding season. However, dealers get only 15 kg of gold a day as the central bank has capped daily supply quota at 15 kg.
"This mismatch has troubled us as well as customer. Keeping in view the seasonal demand, we have been repeatedly requesting the central bank to raise the cap. Sadly, it is not paying heed to our request," Shakya stated.
Moreover, the price of silver went by Rs 5 per tola in the local market on Wednesday. Silver was traded at Rs 1,220 per tola on the day.
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