ShareKUWAIT: Military and geopolitical tensions are the main factors in the sharp rises in gold prices since the beginning of last week, a report issued Sunday by Dar Al-Sabaek, a Kuwaiti company specialized in gold trading, has found.
The report added that the price of gold continued to break records when it reached $2,431 per ounce by the end of Friday’s trading session before it settled at $2,345 per ounce. The price of gold remains at a historic record level because of the escalating risks of ongoing military operations in the Middle East and the seizure of commercial ships by Houthis.
The price will continue to increase “as long as the military escalation continues in the region, especially after Iran launched attacks against the (Zionist) occupation late yesterday,” he said.
The report said that gold futures jumped to $2,374 per ounce, the eighth highest price it reached in less than a month. “We are waiting for further increases when the market opens Monday, in light of the military escalation taking place,” the report said.
It stressed that the factors that pushed gold to its highest level last Friday “are still strongly present,” as the latest data indicates that central banks continue to buy the yellow metal, especially the People’s Bank of China (Central Bank), which was the largest buyer of gold during the month of February, as it increased its reserves by 12 tons to bring its stock to 2,257 tons of gold.
The report added that gold is currently the most important investment tool in the face of geopolitical risks, noting that investors around the world are closely following the rapid developments in the Middle East as well as the US and Chinese economic events, “and we will see the yellow metal at new peaks this week, especially if military risks increase in the Middle East in particular.”
As for the local market, the report said that the price of 24-carat gold amounted to 23.5 dinars (about $71) per gram, while 22-carat gold is sold for 21.55 dinars (about $66) per gram. Silver, on the other hand, closed at 328 dinars (about $1,000) per kilogram. — KUNA
