Gold steady at B18,850

Gold prices were flat at its opening on Saturday.

The Gold Traders Association announced the buying price at 18,750 baht and the selling price at 18,850 baht per baht-weight for gold bars.

For ornaments, the buying and selling prices were 18,480.04 baht and 19,250 baht per baht-weight respectively.

The prices were adjusted three times on Friday, ending unchanged from the previous day.

In world markets, Bloomberg reported from New York gold futures headed for the longest slump in seven months as the dollar’s rally eroded demand for the precious metal as a store of value.

The greenback was poised for the biggest weekly advance since May against a basket of 10 currencies amid debt concerns in Greece and mounting speculation that the Federal Reserve will boost its benchmark interest rate this year. Gold headed for the largest weekly decline in three months.

“There is uncertainty about Greece, which is making people nervous about the euro, and people are buying the dollar,” Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “Also, the whole debate about the Fed hike is keeping gold prices depressed.”

Gold futures for August delivery declined 0.1% to $1,171.10 an ounce at 10.41am on the Comex in New York. The price dropped for the sixth straight session, the longest slump since Nov 6.

This week, the metal has declined 2.6%, the most since March 6.

The dollar rose as a report showed that US consumer confidence climbed in June to a five-month high as an improving US job market boosted Americans’ attitudes about the world’s largest economy.

Fed governor Jerome Powell said on June 23 that he sees a 50-50 chance the US economy will improve enough for him to support a rate increase in September, with a second move to follow in December.

Higher rates curb gold’s allure because the metal doesn’t pay interest like assets such as bonds.