Gold Prices Increase,21- Karat at EGP 3770

Gold prices saw a slight increase in local markets during trading on Saturday, coinciding with the global market's weekend closure. 

This comes after gold recorded a weekly loss of approximately 1% on the global market, according to a report from the "iSagha" platform.

Saeed Embabi, CEO of the “iSagha” platform said that gold prices witnessed an increase by EGP 10 in the local markets during today’s trading, as a gram of 21 karat gold recorded EGP 3770, while an ounce declined to $2622.

He added that a gram of 24 karat gold recorded EGP 4309, a gram of 18 karat gold recorded about EGP 3231, and a pound of gold recorded about EGP 30,160.

According to the daily report from "iSagha," local gold prices rose by EGP 40 during Friday’s trading. The price of a gram of 21-karat gold started at EGP 3,720 and closed at EGP 3,760, while global gold prices rose by $25, starting at $2,597 per ounce and closing at $2,622 per ounce.

Imbaby explained that global gold prices declined following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points. Statements by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated fewer rate cuts next year, triggering significant gold sell-offs and pushing the ounce price down to $2,580.

The Federal Reserve, during its final 2024 monetary policy meeting, projected only two rate cuts next year based on updated economic forecasts. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve reduced interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 4.25%–4.50%.

Imbaby noted that gold prices stabilized by the end of the week following the release of the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation report, which came in weaker than expected, increasing selling pressure on the U.S. dollar.

PCE inflation rose by 0.1% in November, below the 0.2% forecast, while the annual rate accelerated to 2.4% from the previous month's 2.3%, still below the market consensus of 2.5%. Similarly, the core PCE index dropped to 0.1% from 0.3% in October, while annual inflation remained steady at 2.8%, against expectations of a rise to 2.9%.