Kuwait : Gold recorded positive gains for the fourth week in a row, closing at $1.978 an ounce, despite the slight decline witnessed at the end of last Friday’s trading. A report issued by Kuwaiti Dar Al-Sabaek said on Sunday that the yellow metal prices declined on Friday, with an evaluation of the course of monetary policy and the developments of the global banking disruption that hit several American and European banks.

The report added that the Standard & Poor’s Global purchasing managers’ index data in the United States rose to the highest level in 10 months, indicating the improvement in the performance of the American economy in parallel with the decision of the US Federal Reserve (the Central Bank) to raise interest rates by 25 basis points.

The report explained that raising the interest rate by this rate made financial analysts and purchasing managers think that the tightening US monetary policy is about to end, which means the possibility of low inflation in the upcoming months and the recovery of the economy. Due to these developments, gold fell by $15 at the end of Friday’s trading, after recording its highest level at 2006 per ounce, which is its best gain in three years.

Gold futures (for April delivery) closed at $1.884 an ounce, with a slight decrease, among expectation that gold prices will rebound soon, with concerns about the global banking crisis. As for the local market, the report mentioned that the price for 24 carat gold closed on Friday at KD 19.45 per gram and the 22 carat gold reached KD 17.83 per gram, whereas silver reached KD 274 per kilogram.