Gold fails to shine on Dhanteras
Gold seems to have lost some of its lustre despite the upbeat festive mood of Diwali, with jewellers across the country reporting a sharp plunge in their business on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras as against the previous year.
By Agencies |
NEW DELHI: Gold seems to have lost some of its lustre despite the upbeat festive mood of Diwali, with jewellers across the country reporting a sharp plunge in their business on the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras as against the previous year.
High prices of gold as well as a shift in the consumers’ focus toward buying high-value consumer durable items like plasma TVs and microwave ovens have stolen the show from the precious metal, traders said. While buying gold and silver is still considered to be auspicious on the occasion of Dhanteras, which was celebrated on Thursday, the consumers have also started in going for purchase of other high-value items and the gold demand is primarily being driven by the wedding related requirements, they added.
Gold prices have gone up by about 30% over the past Dhanteras, while silver prices have skyrocketed by about 60% during the same period.
The All India Sarrafa Association president Sheel Chand Jain said business is ’too low’ this time as compared to the previous year. Mr Jain said that 24 carat gold was sold at a price of Rs 6,915 per 10 gm last Dhanteras, while it has gone up to as high as Rs 8,820 in Delhi on Thursday. In Mumbai pure gold (99.9) was traded at Rs 8,762 per 10 gm.
Gold prices moved lower across the board, including Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata on the back of lower enquiries for Dhanteras. The prices fell by Rs 55 in Kolkata before finishing the trade at Rs 8,865 per 10 gm, while it slumped by about Rs 95 to Rs 8,800 in Chennai.
In Mumbai, standard gold (99.5) was quoted Rs 38 lower at Rs 8,708 per 10 gm.
Ginni (a gold coin) is currently being sold at Rs 7,500 per 10 gm as against Rs 5,600 previously, while silver prices have gone up to Rs 18,080 per kg from Rs 11,500. In Mumbai, spot silver (.999) closed the day at Rs 18,468. Traders said that higher gold prices, as compared to the previous year, have been mostly driven by the high global prices and domestic demand has hardly played any role in the price movement.
Meanwhile spot gold prices jumped just over 2% on Thursday in London, rising above $600/ounce for the first time in 2-1/2 weeks after oil rallied when Saudi Arabia said it would support an output cut by Opec.
By afternoon, gold was quoted at $598.8/599.8 an ounce, off its peak for the day of $600.3 but sharply higher than New York’s late quote the previous day of $587.6/588.6.In a similar fashion, US gold futures recovered from early losses on Thursday morning. At the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, December gold peaked at $602 an ounce in mid-morning trade, its highest since October 3.
High prices of gold as well as a shift in the consumers’ focus toward buying high-value consumer durable items like plasma TVs and microwave ovens have stolen the show from the precious metal, traders said. While buying gold and silver is still considered to be auspicious on the occasion of Dhanteras, which was celebrated on Thursday, the consumers have also started in going for purchase of other high-value items and the gold demand is primarily being driven by the wedding related requirements, they added.
Gold prices have gone up by about 30% over the past Dhanteras, while silver prices have skyrocketed by about 60% during the same period.
The All India Sarrafa Association president Sheel Chand Jain said business is ’too low’ this time as compared to the previous year. Mr Jain said that 24 carat gold was sold at a price of Rs 6,915 per 10 gm last Dhanteras, while it has gone up to as high as Rs 8,820 in Delhi on Thursday. In Mumbai pure gold (99.9) was traded at Rs 8,762 per 10 gm.
Gold prices moved lower across the board, including Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata on the back of lower enquiries for Dhanteras. The prices fell by Rs 55 in Kolkata before finishing the trade at Rs 8,865 per 10 gm, while it slumped by about Rs 95 to Rs 8,800 in Chennai.
In Mumbai, standard gold (99.5) was quoted Rs 38 lower at Rs 8,708 per 10 gm.
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Ginni (a gold coin) is currently being sold at Rs 7,500 per 10 gm as against Rs 5,600 previously, while silver prices have gone up to Rs 18,080 per kg from Rs 11,500. In Mumbai, spot silver (.999) closed the day at Rs 18,468. Traders said that higher gold prices, as compared to the previous year, have been mostly driven by the high global prices and domestic demand has hardly played any role in the price movement.
Meanwhile spot gold prices jumped just over 2% on Thursday in London, rising above $600/ounce for the first time in 2-1/2 weeks after oil rallied when Saudi Arabia said it would support an output cut by Opec.
By afternoon, gold was quoted at $598.8/599.8 an ounce, off its peak for the day of $600.3 but sharply higher than New York’s late quote the previous day of $587.6/588.6.In a similar fashion, US gold futures recovered from early losses on Thursday morning. At the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, December gold peaked at $602 an ounce in mid-morning trade, its highest since October 3.
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