Gold prices in Pakistan ticked higher on Saturday, with the All Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association pricing 24-karat gold at Rs427,736 per tola, up Rs300 from the previous session (ARY News; Dunya News). Ten grams of 24-karat gold rose Rs257 to Rs366,714. The move tracked a firmer international market, where spot gold gained $3 to trade around $4,053 an ounce, according to the same trackers.
Lower-purity rates moved in step, with 22-karat gold quoted at Rs393,813 per tola, 21-karat at Rs375,912 and 18-karat at Rs322,210, figures that were consistent across Pakistan Observer, Daily Pakistan and Business Recorder’s live rate pages (Pakistan Observer; Daily Pakistan; Business Recorder). The 24-karat headline number was less settled: while ARY News, Dunya News and Business Recorder all put Saturday’s tola rate at Rs427,736, Pakistan Observer and Daily Pakistan’s own trackers were still displaying Rs427,436, a level that matches the prior session’s close after a Rs4,600 slide reported by Business Recorder on Thursday — an illustration of how quickly the local market has been moving this week (Business Recorder).
The bullion market’s underlying driver remains the Gulf. Israel-Iran tensions and strikes near the Strait of Hormuz have kept crude oil elevated, with Brent pushing toward $79 a barrel on fears of prolonged disruption to shipping lanes, and that energy shock has fed directly into inflation expectations (FXStreet). Markets that had priced in further Federal Reserve rate cuts earlier this year have instead had to reckon with a more hawkish tone, as a hotter inflation print raised the odds of borrowing costs staying higher for longer — a combination that has kept gold in demand as a hedge even as it adds to the cost of carrying it (CNBC).
In the currency market, the rupee held close to recent levels against the dollar. Interbank trade had the greenback closing Friday at Rs277.87, extending a run of narrow, mostly positive sessions for the rupee this week, while other trackers put the interbank print as high as Rs278.30 (ProPakistan; Hamariweb). In the open market, dealers quoted the dollar for buying around Rs278.75, with selling rates ranging from about Rs279.05 to Rs279.95 depending on the exchanger, while the Forex Association’s reference rate stood at Rs278.95 (Daily Pakistan; Pakistan Observer).
Pakistan’s equity market, meanwhile, closed the week in negative territory. The KSE-100 shed 718.24 points, or 0.42 percent, in Friday’s session to settle at 171,021.20, capping a weekly decline of 2.7 percent as the same Gulf-driven rise in crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment (Business Recorder). Banking and fertiliser heavyweights, including UBL, NBP and FFC, were among the largest drags on the index.
The energy-price pass-through is also showing up more directly at the pump. Pakistan moved this month from a fortnightly to a daily petroleum pricing mechanism, with the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority now issuing ex-depot rates for petrol and high-speed diesel each day based on a seven-day rolling average of international prices, a shift the government has said is meant to better reflect volatile global crude markets in real time (Express Tribune; Profit by Pakistan Today). Together, the daily fuel revisions, a softer equity market and firmer bullion point to the same source: a Gulf conflict that continues to ripple through Pakistan’s commodity, currency and stock markets.
