With Indians waking up to a “mini flash-crash” of gold on Monday morning, the unsatiable appetite for the yellow metal is sending Hyderabadis into a tizzy – especially relatives of soon- to-be-wed couples.
Though price of gold crashed by four per cent in matter of seconds, buying is expected to increase over the next few weeks according to jewellers.
The sight of families huddled at various jewellery stores across the city bears testimony to this. After reading and watching news, doing his usual background research over the internet and confirming with friends, V Rajesh a resident of Masab Tank had decided by Monday afternoon that the next day he would be purchasing ornaments for his younger sister’s wedding in December.
“The dip in price is like a boon for middle class people like us. Gold ornaments are central to marriages here, more so down south. Though we had already allocated a sum for jewellery in the budget for wedding, the sudden drop in price means my sister now has a wider range of choice,” says Rajesh as his sister tries a necklace that’s worth Rs 2lakh, at a jewellery store in Somajiguda.
For Nusheen Sultana, a resident of Malakpet, the sudden dip in price means she can buy some gold for her year-old-daughter, that “would be come handy eventually”. As per the World Gold Council report, nearly 75 per cent of India’s gold demand is for jewellery and nearly half of this fuels the societal evil of dowry – as indicated by Nausheen.
A lot of neo-rich Hyderabadis are also seeing latest upheaval in the bullion market as an opportunity to stock up gold – in the name of tradition. “Buying gold on the occasion of Varalakshmi Vratam(August 28 this year) is considered auspicious. But though the festival is over a month away, I contemplating buying some ornaments now that the prices are really low and on the auspicious, I will buy something small,” says Shwetha Reddy, a techie from Madhapur.
While market experts are busy analysing reasons and speculating the possible effects and duration of the latest trend in the global markets, most of us are caught in calculating the odds of purchasing gold today or tomorrow. Darpan Gupta, managing director of Mangatrai Jewellers says consumers are right in investing in gold at the moment. “It is the best time to invest in gold. This is the lowest price gold has seen in years,” he says.
Though Gupta says prices will hover around the current rates ( 22k- Rs 23,050 and 24k- Rs 25,040) correction will come in a couple of weeks. “I don’t think prices will fall any further, so people should buy gold right away,” he advises.
While the world wonders at our voracious appetite for the shiny metal, not all are of us caught in the gold fever are obsessed with it. For a lot of us gold is as good a currency, a security for emergencies – so we don’t mind hoarding when prices are low, and selling it off when its value is high.