Gold price roaming fails to deter Rangoon trade

Tuesday, 19 October 2010 00:41 Salai Tun

New Delhi (Mizzima) – Fresh gold price highs and lows failed to hamper trade in Rangoon on both sides of the transaction table, merchants said yesterday.

Although the gold price on the Burmese market rose to a record high of 672,000 kyat (about US$672) per tical (about 16 grammes) yesterday, the market was still strong, according to traders in Rangoon.

“Despite the fluctuations, the market is still active,” a gold shop owner in Kamayut Township in Rangoon told Mizzima.

But, the price softened later in the day to 663,500 kyat per tical. “Although the gold price has changed continuously in the past few days, both buyers and sellers have still wanted to make transactions. The market is not booming, but it is still lively,” a gold merchant from 29th Street, a precious-metals trading area in Pabedan Township, said.

The current gold price in the global market normally set trends on the local market. In the past few days on the global market, the price had risen from US$1,348 to US$1,380 per ounce. At 11:30 p.m. Rangoon time yesterday, the price given by the London Gold Exchange had weakened to US$1,371.

In the mid-August, the price on the Burmese market reached a record high of 667,000 kyat, and on September 9, dropped to 626,000 kyat.

If the gold price in global market was stable, the gold price in local market would decrease because of the increase in volume of production after the monsoon, according to gold merchants.

On global markets, gold fell nearly one per cent yesterday, weighed down by a rebound in the US dollar after the strongest signal yet that the US Federal Reserve was considering a much-anticipated easing move. The dollar rose about half a per cent against a range of currencies yesterday, Reuters reported.

Gold in India fell nearly one per cent on Monday over weak overseas markets, triggering physical buying from traders ahead of the key upcoming festivals, dealers said, Reuters India reported last night.