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Record high prices continue to take a toll on Indian
markets
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Chinese central bank not encouraging gold imports -
analyst
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Singapore dealers charge $1 to $2 premiums
By Rajendra Jadhav and Arundhati Sarkar
March 31 (Reuters) - Gold consumers in top hub China
slowed purchases this week as a steady rise in domestic prices
started to bite, forcing dealers to offer discounts for the
first time in months.
"Overall, gold activity in China this week has been limited
as the Chinese central bank is not encouraging gold imports,"
said Bernard Sin, regional director, Greater China at MKS PAMP.
In China, bullion changed hands at anywhere
between $10 an ounce premiums to $10 discounts versus global
benchmark spot prices versus $19-$25 quoted last week. "Gold in yuan terms has been on an upward path for two years
now and we are now seeing resistance to the high prices," said
independent analyst Ross Norman. Prices in India were still near a record high of
60,455 rupees per 10 grams earlier this month.
"Buyers don't want to make purchases at record high price.
They are waiting for a correction," said Ashok Jain, proprietor
of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsingji.
This forced dealers to offer discounts of up
to $26 an ounce over official domestic prices — inclusive of
15% import and 3% sales levies — easing from the more than
one-year high discounts of $57 last week.
Jewelers have been receiving decent amount of scrap gold as
most retail consumers have been replacing old jewellery, said a
Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank.
"The import requirement is minimal. Most banks are not
importing gold due to high discounts," the dealer said.
Singapore dealers charged $1 to $2 premiums.
Demand from Singapore and international customers continues
to be strong compared to the preceding weeks before the U.S.
bank failures began, said Vincent Tie, sales manager at
Singapore dealer Silver Bullion.
Hong Kong dealers charged $1-$2 premiums.
Herman Chong, business development manager at Rotbart & Co.,
said buying has been observed from both retail customers and
investors.
(Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar, Kavya Guduru in Bengaluru,
Rajendra Jhadav in Mumbai and Amy Lv in Beijing; editing by
Arpan Varghese and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
