Gold traded for $1,236 per ounce

Gold price ended the past week trading at USD 1, 236 per ounce, following two consecutive weeks of downward trend, according to Sabaek Al-Kuwait Company. The report, issued on Sunday, indicated that the price status is linked to traders' abstention from investing, anticipating results of measures by the US Federal Reserve, expected to trim quantitative easing (QE) -- where the central bank buy long-term assets to stimulate the economy. December is a month marked with such a general conservative attitude by the traders who get preoccupied with closing their financial books, and this contributes to the yearend downward trend of the gold prices. The Sabaek Co. report speculated that in case the Federal Reserve continued to inject liquidity into the markets and funds resumed investing in the precious metal, the gold price would significantly jump during 2014. If the Federal Reserve proceeds with the QE policies, the gold price is forecast to reach to USD 1,250 per ounce. However, pessimists believe that the yellow metal price will continue falling and reach USD 1,180 per ounce. The report said the silver price hovered around USD 19-20 per ounce. Platinum lost seven dollars, falling to USD 1,362 per ounce. Palladium shed USD 18 to reach USD 718 per ounce. The local gold market was reported to have seen a boom throughout last week, with the yellow metal selling for KD 1,220 per ounce. Trades in gold jewelry dropped due to the yearend financial closures