Physical gold in India was sold at a discount last week in India for the first time in 2021, due to the surge in coronavirus cases prompted strict restrictions keeping buyers away. Several Indian states have run out of coronavirus vaccines as new infections surged to another daily record.
With almost every state government putting some kind of COVID-19 restrictions, jewellery stores are either closed or witnessed negligible footfalls. This led to dealers offering a discount of up to $2 an ounce this week over official domestic prices, inclusive of 10.75% import and 3% sales levies, from last week's premium of $2.
According to the World Gold Council, India's gold consumption is expected to falter in the June quarter due to the lockdowns. However, in China, premiums of $8-$10 were charged over benchmark spot gold prices, unchanged from last week. In Singapore, premiums widened to $1.5-$2.0 from $1.6-$1.8 previously. In Hong Kong, premiums of $0.8-$1.8 an ounce were charged versus $1.2-$1.8 last week, and in Japan, gold was sold at flat to premiums of $0.50 amid Golden week holidays and new COVID-19 emergencies in some regions.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
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