Gold prices decline in Baghdad and Erbil as dollar eases

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Gold prices fell across Iraq's main wholesale and retail markets on Thursday, with the move coinciding with a slight pullback in the U.S. dollar against the Iraqi dinar on local exchanges. In Baghdad's Nehr Street wholesale market, the selling price of 21-karat Gulf, Turkish and European gold stood at 934,000 Iraqi dinars per quarter, down from 948,000 dinars on Wednesday, while the buying price was recorded at 930,000 dinars. Twenty-one-karat Iraqi gold traded at 904,000 dinars on the selling side and 900,000 dinars on the buying side. At jewelry shops in the capital, 21-karat Gulf gold was sold in a range of 935,000 to 945,000 dinars, and Iraqi gold between 905,000 and 915,000 dinars. In Erbil, 22-karat gold sold for 988,000 dinars, 21-karat gold for 943,000 dinars and 18-karat gold for 808,000 dinars. The decline came as the dollar slipped to 1,551,000 dinars per $100 on Baghdad's Kifah and Harisneh stock exchanges. In Erbil's market, the dollar was quoted at 1,551,500 dinars on the selling side and 1,551,000 dinars on the buying side. Local gold prices in Iraq are set according to a formula based on the global price per ounce and the dollar exchange rate in the foreign currency market.