Gold dealers hope for a festive punch after a week of low demand

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The demand for physical gold was mostly towards the lower side this week due to a rebound in prices that kept buyers deterred. Dealers are however optimistic regarding the upcoming festive season where they expect to see a surge in sales driven by higher demands.

The slow, steady recovery

On September 3, local gold futures were trading close to Rs 47,100 rupees per 10 grams, marking a steady recovery from the four-month low of Rs 45,662 that it touched in August. The prices were going up and that is why the retail demand for gold was quite low over the last few days, Reuters reported quoting a private bank’s bullion dealer based in Mumbai. Another bullion dealer from Mumbai said that with the festive season approaching if prices of gold remain steady in the next few days, jewellers could begin purchasing.

Dealers were charging premiums of up to $2 per 30gm of gold over the official domestic prices, which also included import duty of 10.75% and sales tax of 3% and these haven’t changed in a week, added the Reuters report. On the other hand, premiums slightly tapered in China to $1-$5 per ounce over global benchmark spot prices as compared to the premiums of the past week which stood in the range of $3-$6 (around Rs 220- 430).

On a global scale, the rates of gold soared to a seven-week high on September 3 owing to concerns that the Federal Reserve will soon trim the stimulus following an underwhelming or less than expected addition of jobs in the United States. As per data, the nonfarm payrolls for August in the US went up by 2.35 lakh, much below the estimates put forth by economists, the Mint reported. Spot gold price rose by over 1% on September 3 to $1,830 per ounce. The dollar index on the other hand fell to 92.132 thus giving a boost to the appeal of precious metals for investors who held different currencies.