Gold prices in Pakistan held steady on Friday after Thursday’s sharp pullback, with 24-karat gold trading at Rs415,000 per tola in the Karachi bullion market, according to the Karachi Saraf Jewellers Association. The rate is unchanged from Thursday’s close, when gold dropped by a hefty Rs10,000 per tola from Wednesday’s Rs425,000 level — one of the sharpest single-day declines the local market has seen in recent weeks.
The slide tracked a broader sell-off in international bullion markets. Gold in the international market tumbled to around $3,866 on Thursday, a fall of roughly 3 percent, as the US dollar surged to its highest level in over a year on growing bets that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates rather than cut them, Business Recorder reported, citing hotter-than-expected US inflation data that caught investors off guard. By Friday morning the metal had steadied somewhat, with spot gold trading near $3,910 per ounce on Kitco’s live feed, still well off the highs seen earlier in the week. A stronger dollar makes dollar-priced gold costlier for buyers holding other currencies and reduces the appeal of a non-yielding asset like gold when interest rates are expected to climb, which is the main reason bullion has struggled to hold its recent gains.
Silver followed gold lower as well. International silver slipped below the $50-an-ounce mark, dragging the local silver rate down to Rs5,240.54 per tola on Friday, as both metals came under pressure from the same dollar-strength, rate-hike-bet narrative.
| Metal / Rate | Per Tola | Per 10 Grams |
|---|---|---|
| 24K Gold | Rs415,000 | Rs355,800 |
| 22K Gold | Rs380,417 | Rs326,150 |
| 21K Gold | Rs363,125 | Rs311,325 |
| 18K Gold | Rs311,250 | Rs266,850 |
| Silver | Rs5,240.54 | Rs4,493 |
| International Gold | $3,910 / oz | |
Compared with Thursday’s rate update, Friday’s local gold price is flat after already absorbing the bulk of the week’s decline a day earlier. Market watchers say the direction from here largely depends on incoming US economic data and fresh signals from Federal Reserve officials ahead of their next policy meeting — a more dovish tone could quickly reverse some of this week’s losses, while confirmation of rate-hike bets could pressure gold further.
