India's gold demand picks up slightly as key festival nears

Gold demand in India ticked up this week ahead of a key festival but record-high prices discouraged many retail buyers from making their usual festive purchases.

"Footfalls have gone up, but consumers are buying less in volume terms. Shoppers are still finding it hard to get used to the higher prices," a New Delhi-based jeweller said.

Domestic prices jumped to a record high of 78,919 rupees ($938.91) per 10 grams earlier this week, an increase of more than 31% since last year's Diwali festival.

Indian dealers this week offered a discount <XAU-IN-PREM> of up to $4 an ounce over official domestic prices – inclusive of 6% import and 3% sales levies - down from last week's discount of $8.

"Jewellery demand is weak, but coins and bars are gaining traction among investors. As the stock market corrects, some investors are hedging risk by buying gold," said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank.

Diwali is celebrated in late October and is considered an auspicious time to purchase gold.

In Singapore, gold was sold between a discount of $1.00 and $2.20 premium <XAU-SG-PREM>.

In Singapore, demand for bullion typically increases during Diwali but high prices have jewellers concerned about low activity this time, said Brian Lan, managing director at GoldSilver Central.

"Recently, we saw clients coming to buy silver after prices surged to multi-year highs this week. I think people are betting on silver because gold has got so expensive."

Earlier this week, spot gold hit a record high of $2,758.37, while silver prices hit their highest level since 2012.

Meanwhile, dealers in top gold consumer China offered discounts of $16-$20 versus last week's $3-$14 discounts <XAU-CN-PREM>. In Hong Kong, gold was sold between a $1.00 discount and a $1.00 premium <XAU-HK-PREM>.

In Japan, traders <XAU-TK-PREM> quoted a $0.75 discount to a $1 premium.

Some customers sold bullion to take profits as prices rose, while buying occurred with low volumes, Tokyo-based traders said.