Gold in Dubai opened Friday morning at Dh503 per gram for 24-karat, as a modest rebound in global prices filtered through to the local market. The UAE's other common grades followed suit: 22-karat gold was quoted at Dh466.9 a gram, 21-karat at Dh446.75, and 18-karat at Dh363.
The move tracked spot gold internationally, which was trading near $4,173 an ounce at 9:30am UAE time. Carsten Menke, Head of Next Generation Research at Julius Baer, said the broader picture for precious metals remains cautious. He pointed to a run of stronger-than-expected US inflation data earlier in the week, which revived concerns that the Federal Reserve may need to keep policy tight for longer — a backdrop that typically weighs on non-yielding assets like gold.
"We see limited short-term upside for gold and silver as long as the Fed remains in inflation-fighting mode," Menke said, adding that Julius Baer had already closed out its long position on the metal given what it viewed as a reasonable gold-to-silver price ratio. He did not rule out renewed support further down the line, however, noting that longer-term concerns around the size of US government debt and its interest burden could eventually pull investors back toward gold as a hedge.
For buyers in Dubai's gold souks, the takeaway is that prices remain tightly linked to the US rate outlook rather than regional factors, meaning short-term swings are likely to keep tracking Washington's inflation data and Fed signals rather than settling into a clear trend in either direction over the coming weeks.