Gold price on Tuesday escalates Rs 1,500 to Rs 94,100 per tola.   

KATHMANDU, Dec 8: Gold business that was in the downward spiral for around eight months since the country imposed lockdown on March 24 gained momentum in the past two weeks amid the wedding season.

According to gold business people, daily sales of gold jewelries during the period surged to 15-20 kg which came down to almost nil a few months ago. The period between mid-November to mid December is considered one of the auspicious times for matrimonial ceremonies in Nepal.

Tej Ratna Shakya, former president of the Federation of Nepal Gold and Silver Dealers’ Association (Fenegosida), told Republica that the gold trading peaked due to a rise in demand for weddings. “The wedding rituals during the period this year has increased by a notable number as many of those looking to tie a knot a few months ago postponed it citing the threat of coronavirus,” Shakya said.

Shakya said the demand for gold this time accounts just half the amount that was sold in the same period last year.  According to him, the demand stood at just around 4 kg per day in Dashain, which was 10 percent of the sales last year. “It rose to 10-12 kg per day during Tihar,” he said.

In the past two weeks of the wedding season, the fallen price of gold also gave a respite to the buyers. The gold price that once went above Rs 100,000 per tola (11.66 grams) plunged as low as Rs 90,500 per tola, shows the Fenegosida records. As per media, over the period, the gold price went below $1,800 per ounce in the international market from as high as $1918.20 per ounce in September. The fall in bullion price had been attributed to approval for a vaccine against the COVID-19 amid a spike in cases of coronavirus globally.

However, the price has started to move in an upward trend again since Sunday. In the international market, the bullion price jumped 1.7 percent on Monday to stand at $1,868.25 per ounce. As a result, the price of precious metal has been added with a single day gain of Rs 1,500 on Tuesday and cost Rs 94,100 per tola, according to Fenegosida.

The recent rise in bullion price has been attributed to the countries, the US and Japan in particular, looking forward to enforcing a stimulus package to tackle the economic problem. Japanese government has announced a new economic stimulus package totaling $708 billion with fiscal measures at $385 billion. Gold tends to benefit from stimulus measures as it raises the prospect of inflation which bullion is used to hedge against, reads international media. 

 
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