Gold prices recovered by R40 to R29,580 per 10 gm in the Capital on Monday on global cues. Silver followed suit and ended higher by R150 to R41,550 per kg on increased offtake by industrial units. Traders said the rise in prices of the metals was in tandem with a firming trend overseas and fresh demand from jewellers, driven by the ongoing wedding season. However, the appreciating rupee which makes imports cheaper, restricted the rise, they said. Gold in London, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, rose 0.5% to $1,300.40 an ounce. In Delhi, gold of 99.9% and 99.5% purity recovered by R40 each. It had lost R560 in the last two sessions. Sovereign, however, remained steady at R24,900 per 8-gm piece.
Brent rises above $110 on Libya riots, output fall
Brent crude rose above $110 a barrel on Monday on renewed concerns over Libya’s oil output following some of the worst violence in Tripoli since 2011. Heavily armed men stormed Libya’s parliament on Sunday and demanded its suspension, claiming loyalty to a renegade army general and deepening the chaos in the OPEC oil producer. Brent crude gained 38 cents to $110.13 a barrel by 1110 GMT. US crude rose 70 cents to $102.72. An end to a month-long blockade of major oil ports in eastern Libya last month raised the prospect of higher crude exports and weighed on oil prices. But just-opened oil fields were closed again, and clashes erupted in the east, with 43 people killed in Benghazi. Libya’s output has fallen to about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd earlier last week, far below the 1.4 million bpd produced last year.
