Gold prices stabilized Saturday at Friday's prices, according to the director of the gold division at Chamber of Commerce Union, Ahmed Rafik Abbasi Eighteen-carat gold was priced at 245 EGP (U.S. $40.90) a gram, 21-carat gold was valued at 287 EGP (U.S. $47.91) a gram, and 24-carat was valued at 329 EGP (U.S. $54.92) a gram. A gold Egyptian pound was valued at 2,304 EGP (U.S. $384.64). Abbasi said that 80 percent of gold factories closed and turned to other activity as a result of the gold recession. He also said that gold prices retreated by 90 percent in the national markets for the first time in history. Abbasi noted that national gold prices depend on international pricing and global stock markets.
