Sunday, March 28, 2004 2The fluctuation in gold prices has not affected gold jewellery sales in Dubai's gold market and sales have remained steady for the last couple of months, according to Tawhid Abdullah, chairman of the Gold and Jewellery Group, the umbrella body for over 400 jewellery traders.

Gold touched $422 per ounce on Friday, translating into a price of Dh50.50 per gram for 24 carat and Dh47.25 per gram for 22 carat jewellery in Dubai. On January 6, the gold price touched $433 per ounce, which is considered to be the highest in the recent past.

Predicting an international gold price in the range of $385 to $435 per ounce for the current year, Abdullah said the buyers have already found the present price very realistic.

"The signs are healthy for gold. The medium-term outlook for the dollar is bleak and more and more people have started endorsing gold as an ideal asset class for investment compared with any other asset class," Tawhid added.

The rise in gold prices is affecting the profitability of gold jewellery traders in Dubai as the profit is fixed on the quantity of gold sold rather than the price of gold.

eGulf News