Indian jewellers stay shut as lockdowns stifle gold demand
5 hours ago A saleswoman displays a gold necklace inside a jewellery showroom in Kolkata. File/Reuters
Physical gold demand in second-biggest bullion consumer India was negligible this week with most jewellery stores still shut by COVID-19 lockdowns, forcing dealers to offer steep discounts.
“Lockdowns are badly hitting the industry. Jewellers have stopped buying since retail demand is almost zero,” said Ashok Jain, proprietor of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji.
Most states have imposed curbs as infections crossed 27 million, with over 3,000 people dying every day.
Dealers offered discounts of up to $10 an ounce, the highest since mid-September 2020, over official domestic prices - inclusive of 10.75% import and 3% sales levies - unchanged from last week.
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May 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices climbed on Monday to their highest in more than three months, with the precious metal appealing to cautious investors as U.S. Treasury yields remained subdued even as stock prices fell on inflation worries.
Spot gold jumped 1.3% to $1,866.84 per ounce by 1:50 p.m. EDT (1750 GMT), after hitting its highest since Feb. 1 at $1,868.26. U.S. gold futures settled up 1.6% at $1,867.60.
“There’s a flight to safety out of the equity markets . and anticipation that we’re going to continue to see inflation numbers trend much stronger going forward,” said Jeffrey Sica, founder of Circle Squared Alternative Investments.
NEW YORK: Stock indexes were lower globally on Monday with technology shares on Wall Street falling, while US Treasury yields traded little changed even after a report showing the highest prices ever paid in a May manufacturing survey for New York state.
Concerns over inflationary pressure helped to lift gold prices to their highest in more than three months, however.
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, produced by the New York Fed, showed the prices paid index rose to a record 83.5, the highest since the data series began in 2001, said Tom Simons, money market economist at Jefferies & Co.
Wall Street’s declines follow the S&P 500’s biggest one-day jump in more than a month on Friday.