Gold Demand Surges In Festive Season, However, Volumes Remain Muted

The overall sales this year saw a jump in coins and bars as customers didn’t seem keen on paying increased making charges for jewellery

India saw a surge in gold demand this week as festive season spurred demand from customers. However, volumes remained lower than usual owing to record-high prices.

Reuters reported that gold prices in the country soared to reach a fresh peak of Rs 79,775 per 10 grams earlier this week. This marked a jump of 33 per cent in comparison to prices during Diwali last year.

The report quoted a Hyderabad-based jeweller and said, “Retail buying jumped as consumers want to make purchases during the auspicious period. But many were making token-buys because of higher prices.”

The overall sales this year saw a jump in coins and bars as customers didn’t seem keen on paying increased making charges for jewellery, the report said. Notably, earlier this week, Indian dealers charged a premium of up to $1 an ounce on top of official domestic prices on Dhanteras. This was inclusive of 6 per cent import and 3 per cent sales levies, however, they also offered a discount in the later half of the week up to $5, against a discount of $4 last week.

Citing a bullion dealer with a private bank based in Mumbai, the report said, “In volumes, sales were lower this year than last year. However, considering the price rally, even sales with modest volume drops look promising since, in value terms, they are much higher.”

Brian Lan, managing director, GoldSilver Central explained that the week witnessed good sales due to festivities after ‘a long quiet period’.

At the same time, gold was sold in the range of $0.80 discount to $2.20 premium in Singapore. The demand for physical silver and platinum climbed in Singapore on the basis of dealer’s inventory. In China, dealers provided discounts of $11-$14.