NEW DELHI: High prices may dampen the spirit of gold buyers this year as jewellers across cities are getting mixed response from buyers ahead of Dhanteras. While some are claiming long queues before their stores, others are reporting lukewarm responses. Dhanteras is marked as the beginning of the five-day Diwali festival and is considered auspicious to buy gold.
Gold prices are currently hovering around Rs 60,000 per ten grams in cities like Delhi, Nagpur, Mumbai and other parts of the country. “There is a significant demand for physical gold as compared to last year, as per some jewellers. My stores are crowded with enthusiastic buyers to buy jewellery. This time, the booking is 30% higher than the previous year,” Rajesh Rokde, director at Nagpur-based Rokde Jewellers.
“This time Diwali is also falling on the weekend, which is also giving people more time in hand to visit stores for gold purchase. People know that the prices won’t come down further from now on. Religious sentiments also play a strong role in enthusing people to go out and purchase the yellow metal,” Rokde added, who has four stores in Nagpur.
However, Delhi-based Jai Kabra, founder of Resham Group’ has a different story to share. As per him, there is a lackluster demand for gold this year, the reason being higher prices. In contrast to Rokde, the enquiry by customers is nearly 25% lower this season. “Every year, fairly rich customers start enquiring about gold jewellery before Dhanteras, but this time things are a bit different. That kind of excitement is kind of missing this time and it is mainly due to high prices,” stated Kabra.
Last year, the gold prices were at Rs 51,000 per 10 grams. After the Ukraine war, the yellow metal prices had surged to Rs 63,000, only to come down to Rs 56000 later. However, now the recent Israel crisis again spurred the gold prices to near Rs 63,000 per 10 grams before settling around Rs 61,000. Year-to-date, gold prices have rose 11% in 2023. Dr C Vinod Hayagriv, Managing Director, C Krishniah Chetty Group of Jewellers, is also optimistic about consumer interest.
“We believe we will outgrow last year. Thanks to our design and service we have steadily grown in value and quantity every year. We hope to do so this year as well,” added Chetty. As per Ajay Kedia, gold expert at Kedia Advisory, geopolitical landscape in 2024 will play a significant role in shaping bullion price trends.
“Bullion market in 2024 promises to be a captivating arena, characterised by the interplay of geopolitical events, economic policies, investor sentiment and global economic indicators…..We expect the market to continue with its bullish trend and test the levels of 68,000 at MCX by the end of 2024,” said Kedia.