Riyadh Economic Forum Tackles Strategic Issues, Solid Studies

 Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Riyadh region, launched on Monday the tenth edition of the Riyadh Economic Forum. (SPA)
Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Riyadh region, launched on Monday the tenth edition of the Riyadh Economic Forum. (SPA)
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Riyadh Economic Forum Tackles Strategic Issues, Solid Studies

 Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Riyadh region, launched on Monday the tenth edition of the Riyadh Economic Forum. (SPA)
Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Riyadh region, launched on Monday the tenth edition of the Riyadh Economic Forum. (SPA)

Under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of the Riyadh region, launched on Monday the tenth edition of the Riyadh Economic Forum, with a wide participation of government officials, economic experts and academics.

Prince Faisal bin Bandar stressed that the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ sponsorship of the forum, since the launch of its first session in 2003 and throughout its journey, represented the greatest support for its work and activities in strengthening the national economy and raising its response to facing local, regional and global economic challenges, in line with the objectives of Vision 2030.

He added that the forum also reflected the Kingdom’s support for private sector institutions and the importance of raising their contribution to the achievement of a sustainable economic and social development, especially in light Saudi Arabia’s rapid economic growth and comprehensive renaissance.

The governor of Riyadh pointed that the forum sought to enhance the participation of female and male stakeholders, economic experts and academics to develop solid studies that accurately analyze the challenges facing the national economy in many of its sectors, and adopt a neutral and balanced scientific approach to find viable solutions.

For his part, Ajlan Al-Ajlan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce in Riyadh, pointed to the successes achieved by the forum through its previous nine sessions, emphasizing its recommendations and fruitful results that would contribute to raising the efficiency of the national economy and building an attractive investment environment.



Gold Stabilizes after Selloff as Wider Markets Regain Balance

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
TT

Gold Stabilizes after Selloff as Wider Markets Regain Balance

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices held steady on Tuesday, anchored by stability in European equities and US stock futures, a day after bullion's sharp decline amid a tech-led selloff.

Spot gold was steady at $2,742.37 per ounce by 12:05 GMT. US gold futures rose 0.3% to $2,746.70.

"After the drop yesterday, with gold likely being used to cover losses in other asset classes, stable equity markets in Europe are keeping gold stable too," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said, Reuters reported.

Gold fell over 1% on Monday, marking its steepest drop since Dec. 18, as investors rushed to liquidate bullion to offset losses triggered by a sharp pullback in technology stocks, spurred by DeepSeek's low-cost, low-power AI model, casting doubt on the dominance of traditional AI giants.

Investors' focus is now set upon the Federal Reserve's first meeting this year, scheduled to start later in the day.

Policymakers are expected to leave interest rates unchanged at the end of the two-day meeting.

However, US President Donald Trump saying he wants borrowing costs to be lowered cast some doubt over the independence of the Fed's decision.

"Market uncertainty should still support demand for gold over the coming months, we still look for higher prices later this year, driven also by further rate cuts by the Fed," Staunovo added.

Trump's policies, in addition to being perceived as inflationary, could potentially trigger trade wars, increasing safe-haven demand for bullion.

Gold prices look set for a record-breaking year due to heightened economic uncertainty and inflation concerns, a Reuters poll showed.

However, analysts downgraded their 2025 price forecasts for platinum and palladium as demand struggles to improve significantly.

Spot silver fell 0.1% to $30.17 per ounce, palladium was down by 0.1% to $959.75 and platinum also shed 0.1% to $946.05.