Gold dips on low demand, silver up on buying
Gold prices fell by R100 to R31,150 per ten grams on slackened demand amid a weak global trend. However, silver recovered by R50 to R47,550 per kg on scattered buying. Traders said sluggish demand and a weak global trend on speculation that recent rally is curbing physical demand in Asia and as the Federal Reserve indicated that it will press on with cuts to stimulus, mainly influenced the sentiment. On the other hand, silver ready recovered by R50 to R47,550 per kg and weekly-based delivery by R140 to R47,350 per kg, while silver coins remained steady at R88,000 for buying and R89,000 for selling of 100 pieces.
World?s steel output drops in January
A marginal dip in Chinese output led to fall in world’s steel production by 0.4% to 129.78 mt even as India maintained its volumes at 6.95 mt in January. Chinese production declined by 3.2% to 61.6 mt in January compared to 63.62 mt a year earlier. The fall in output in the world’s largest steel producing nation also caused a 1.5% dip in Asian contribution to the global production. According to the monthly report of premier industry body World Steel Association, Japan produced 9.4 mt steel inJanuary, clocking an increase of 6.1%over the same month last year.