*
Singapore premiums range between $1 and $2.20/oz
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India hikes silver import duty to align with gold
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Premium in China unlikely to fall in the near-term -
analyst
By Rajendra Jadhav and Kavya Guduru
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Physical gold demand in India ticked
up this week, as jewellers resumed purchases after staying away
for a couple of weeks hoping for an import duty cut in the
government budget amid the wedding season.
"Jewellers were not buying for few weeks anticipating
government will cut import duty in the budget. As there wasn't
any change in the duty structure, they have started buying small
quantity," said Harshad Ajmera, a gold wholesaler in Kolkata.
India did not slash import duty on gold in its annual budget
presented on Feb. 1, but raised the import duty on silver. Bullion industry was seeking a reduction in the duty as gold
refiners have nearly stopped imports of gold dore, a semi-pure
alloy, as grey market operators offer hefty discounts to market
rates and cut into their slender margins. But retail demand was still muted as consumers were
struggling to digest record high prices, said a Mumbai-based
dealer with a private bullion importing bank.
Local gold prices hit an all-time high of 58,826
rupees per 10 grams this week. This prompted dealers to offer
discounts of up to $48 an ounce over official
domestic prices — inclusive of 15% import and 3% sales levies —
mid-week, from last week's $42 discounts.
But discounts eased to around $14 on Friday.
In China, premiums of $10-$15 an ounce were quoted over
benchmark prices as markets reopened after the week-long
Lunar New Year holidays.
"We will continue to see the strengthening of RMB, hence,
premium in China in near term is unlikely to fall," said Bernard
Sin, regional director, Greater China at MKS PAMP.
In Hong Kong, gold was sold at par to $2 premiums an ounce , while Singapore dealers charged $1-$2.20 premiums , with higher domestic prices denting appetite,
traders said.
Gold changed hands at $0.50 discounts to $0.50 premiums in
Japan.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad and Kavya Guduru in
Bengaluru, Rajendra Jhadav in Mumbai; additional reporting by
Brijesh Patel; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
