KARACHI
Gold price went up by Rs 171 to close at Rs 49,285 per 10 grams in the local market Wednesday, market sources said. According to Karachi Sarafa Association official, tola (11.664 grams) price also surged by Rs 200 to Rs 57,500. Silver closed unchanged at Rs 822.85 per 10 grams. Reuters adds from London: Gold steadied near two-week highs on Wednesday and was set for its second successive weekly gain.
, thanks to a modest decline in the dollar that may sharpen investor appetite for the metal, although a U.S. public holiday is likely to temper any gains. Investment demand for bullion has flagged over the last few months, in light of the high degree of uncertainty over the impact of the euro zone debt crisis on the global economy that has resulted in the dollar emerging as the safe-haven asset of choice, to the detriment of gold. Yet holdings of gold in exchange-traded funds, often used as a gauge of longer-term investor demand, have eased this week, but remain less than half a percent off March's record high above 70.89 million ounces.
This week could be decisive in determining the likely course of monetary policy in both the United States and the euro zone, where the low interest rates that prevail in both regions have been instrumental in creating demand for gold.