Gold Price in Punjab today -

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If there was another indicator to measure wealth in the world, barring currency, it would be gold. It is one of the nine noble metals, but gold’s value in the economy surpasses that of its counterparts. But the exploration and extraction of gold is a slow-moving, laborious process.

However, this metal still has a readily available market across the globe, which increases its liquidity, thereby making it an ideal asset. Owners of gold articles have the freedom to convert them into cash with ease.

Moreover, gold is a luxury good, which means that people purchase it in larger quantities when their income rises. Therefore, this yellow metal generally exhibits a steady increase due to high demand and inadequate supply, especially in a country like India. Most free-market economies of the world use gold reserves to hedge against inflation. As a result, this metal possesses an intrinsic value in the global economy as well.

The intention behind applying quantitative easing is to counter the situation created by an economic slump. Typically, during an economic downturn, the demand for credit goes down and deflation hits. Even though central banks around the world use interest rate manipulation to tackle such situations, QE is usually their last resort.

Points to Know about QE

1. It is a part of a country’s designated monetary policy
2. Even though it existed for a long time, the recession of 2008 saw its implementation on a broader scale.
3. In QE, central banks print new currency to buy assets and inject more cash in the system.
4. It affects the value of a currency
5. It works effectively to counter deflation and stimulate an economy
6. QE is considered as a short-term measure

• Quantitative Easing and Gold

The relationship between QE and gold is inversely proportionate. It means when money is injected into the system, the price of gold goes down. Although extra money makes it seem like the gold prices are soaring, that isn’t the case.

With the implementation of this tactic, the gold prices largely remain the same, grow but at a slower pace, or even go down during certain instances.

Here Quantitative Easing Tapering is also vital to know about. It means when a central bank agrees to stop new currency printing, which results in a shortfall in the system. So, the flow of cash goes down, but the amount of gold remains the same. Hence, the price of gold increases steeply.

Gold holds an impeccable value in terms of quantifying one’s wealth as well as for investment. Thus, judging the quality and purity of gold is of utmost importance, both for buyers and for traders.

Primarily, the gold’s purity is determined through the Karat system that measures the same on a scale from 0 to 24. For instance, a 24 karats gold jewellery contains 100% gold. On the other hand, in a 14K gold jewellery, the percentage of gold is 58.33%, and the rest is other metal or alloy.

The gold purity can be measured both by percentage and parts per thousand. However, to convert the Karat into a percentage, one needs to divide the Karat number by 24 and then multiply it by 100.

Another easy way to determine gold’s purity is by checking the hallmark stamp on gold jewellery. This hallmark includes the authorised logo, date of manufacturing, carat weight or fineness of the gold in question. In several countries, including India, it is mandatory to sell gold jewellery with hallmark stamp. 

Lastly, the traders generally use an electronic gold tester to measure the quality and purity of gold. It shows the result accurately within seconds.

The price of gold in India depends on multiple factors. This includes, but is not limited to the following factors:

1) Gold production

2) Inflation

3) Government's gold reserves

4) Demand and supply of gold in the global commodity market

5) Import rates

6) Interest rates

7) Taxes and levies

8) Local demand. 

As a denizen and fellow gold loan borrower, it is imperative for you to stay updated about the latest gold rate in cityname. It is not unusual to find a little variation between the market gold price and the gold valuation offered by the lender. The difference in price primarily occurs because the lender calculates the average gold price of 22-Karat gold based on the rates from the past thirty days and extrapolates the gold gram rate. Hence, the value of the gold you get depends on the average gold price and the lender's loan to value ratio. As per the recent directive of the RBI, lenders can give loans of up to 90% of the gold's market value till March 31, 2021.