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By
AFP
Published
May 17, 2010
Reading time
2 minutes
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Soaring prices take shine off Indian gold

By
AFP
Published
May 17, 2010

MUMBAI — Soaring prices scared Indians off buying gold at the weekend when the nation celebrated a key Hindu festival that is considered an auspicious time to buy the precious metal.


Photo: AFP

India is the world's biggest importer of gold but fears about financial turmoil in the eurozone have pushed prices of the safe-haven commodity to record levels.

Indians traditionally splash out for the Akshay Tritiya festival as the country's nearly 900 million Hindus believe it to be a lucky day to purchase gold jewellery and coins.

But this time in India's western financial hub of Mumbai "buying was very poor -- probably 90 percent lower than the previous year", Suresh Hundia, president of the Bombay Bullion Association, told AFP.

A gold trading firm in the southern city of Chennai, where the Akshay Tritiya festival is most popular, said demand was down but not as badly as in Mumbai.

MNC Bullion calculated demand for the precious metal was "about 30-35 percent lower" than the previous year.

Hundia and other traders could not say how much gold was actually bought during the festival on Sunday 16 May, as sales data was still being calculated. Last year sales touched around 40 tonnes on Akshay Tritiya day.

"People started trickling in to buy gold only late in the afternoon (Sunday 16 May), and demand picked up after that," said an official at Chennai-based MNC Bullion, asking not to be named.

"But overall sales have been low due to high prices."

Gold prices closed at 1,235.00 dollars an ounce in Hong Kong on Monday 17May, slightly off the record 1,249.40 dollars touched on Friday 14 May in London.

And on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), gold futures for August hit a record high on Monday 17 May of 18,500 (411 dollars) per 10 grammes, breaking the previous peak of 18,410 rupees hit last Friday 14 May.

But sales of scrap gold are expected to rise in response to its strong price increase and gold exchange-traded funds (Gold ETFs) are turning out to be top picks for investors, traders say.

Special trading sessions were held Sunday 16 May on the country's two premier exchanges -- the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange -- in gold exchange traded funds and traders reported strong volumes.

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