(MENAFN- Daily News Egypt) Gold prices in Egypt continued to fluctuate below EGP 3,400 per gram as the precious metal lost upward momentum following a global price decline. This drop was influenced by better-than-expected US employment data, while no local factors currently support a price increase.
The most popular 21-karat gold opened trading on Saturday, at EGP 3,395 per gram, and at the time of Gold Bullion's technical report, it was trading at EGP 3,390 per gram. On Friday, it fell by EGP 10 to close at EGP 3,395 per gram after opening the session at EGP 3,405 per gram.
Over the past week, gold prices in Egypt dropped by 1.3%, losing EGP 45, closing at EGP 3,395 per gram after opening last week's trading at EGP 3,440 per gram.
The current decline in local gold prices is due to the weakening global gold movement, which has been fluctuating with a downward trend over the past week. This negatively impacted local gold prices, which lacked supportive factors in the domestic market.
Additionally, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar in official banks gradually decreased throughout most of last week, ending the week at an average of EGP 48.50 per gram, down from the opening average of EGP 48.68 per dollar.
On the other hand, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) kept interest rates unchanged during its meeting on Thursday, marking the third consecutive meeting without changes. The deposit rate remained at 27.25%, while the overnight lending and the CBE's main operation rates were 28.25% and 27.75%, respectively.
The CBE stated that the decision to maintain interest rates reflects recent developments and the growth and inflation outlook both domestically and globally since the last meeting.
The CBE raised interest rates by 800 basis points during the first quarter of this year to combat high inflation, while also allowing the Egyptian pound to float freely against the US dollar, resulting in price increases.
Additionally, Fitch Ratings has predicted that the CBE will begin a series of interest rate cuts next year.
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