Mercury Polished Diamond Prices: Price Stability Maintained

(ehudlaniado.com) - Polished diamond prices remained flat overall in October for the third consecutive month, according to the Mercury Diamond Global Tracker™ (MDGT™) , an index of polished diamond transaction prices. The steady prices, following an extended period of price declines, are a welcome sign of stability for the global diamond industry. The MDGT™ stood at 114.79 in October, a negligible decline from its 114.80 during September. Polished diamond prices peaked in May 2014, when the index reached 142.3, and have been steadily declining since July 2014, a 40-month stretch. On a year-over-year basis, overall polished diamond prices have been declining for 35 months. The last time the index showed an upward year-over-year trend was in November 2014. During the 40-month period of declining polished diamond prices, the MDGT™ index fell 19.3%. MDGT™ is based on the transaction prices of diamonds weighing 1-30 carats, collected and used for the Mercury Diamond™ Price List. It provides wholesale polished diamond prices based on transaction prices in the wholesale market, and is aimed at serving the wholesale market first and foremost. In October, polished diamond prices declined by 2.7% year-over-year, the same as in September. Although we have seen stability in prices in the last three months, the year-over-year rate of decline shows just how deeply prices fell during the past year before stabilizing.