Travel and gold demand in India improved over the past few weeks due to upcoming festivals but remained lower than usual because of record-high prices, while Chinese markets were closed for a holiday. Demand for travel has soared, given the spike in domestic air ticket prices, while trains and buses are running full, amid the festive season travel rush in India. "With the Dussehra festival coming up, retail demand is starting to pick up, but it's still much lower than usual.
The record-high prices are causing a lot of shoppers to hold off on making purchases," said a Kolkata-based jeweller. Indians will celebrate Dussehra on October 12, when buying gold is considered auspicious. Indian dealers offered discounts of up to $21 an ounce this week over official domestic prices, inclusive of 6% import and 3% sales levies, up from the last week’s discount of $19.
Domestic prices jumped to a record high of 76,000 rupees per 10 grams last week, an increase of nearly 13% from a four-month low of 67,400 rupees reached on July 25. Also read: Sri Lanka is cheapest visa-free foreign destination for Indian travellers in 2024 Jewellers are not confident about demand during the festive season and are taking it slow on building up stock, said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank. Chinese markets were closed for the Golden Week holiday.
Gold discounts in the top consumer widened last week to $16-$7 as demand continued to remain weak. In Hong Kong, gold was sold between a $2 disco.
