KUWAIT: Gold prices climbed to their highest level in six months last week at $1,875 an ounce, stated a report on Sunday, mentioning that this coincides with release of American employment statistics. The report, issued by Kuwaiti Dar Al-Sabaek Company, attributed the rise of gold prices to the slowing pace of American employment last December where the price reached $1,867 per ounce. Head of strategic planning at the company, Adel Al-Fadhli, explained that American employment

statistics affect the American Federal Reserve's interest rate. Al-Fadhli further added that employment rate in the US slowed down slightly last December with 223,000 jobs compared to November's 256,000.

The waning of wage pressures is one of the main factors affecting gold price positively, indicating that inflation is diminishing while income average increases on annual basis with 4.6 percent last month, less than market expectations of five percent. The US dollar index stabilized at 105.22 points whereas the treasury's 10-year bonds remained at 3.72 percent. As for the local market, the report mentioned that the price for 24 carat gold reached KD 18.37 per gram and the 22 carat gold reached KD 16.84 per gram. -KUNA