Jewellery trade faces mixed fortunes due to gold prices
Nagpur: Mixed sentiments will mark the
jewellery trade
on
Akshaya Tritiya
, the biggest gold-buying festival in Maharashtra, today. High prices may deter some consumers even though it is considered auspicious to buy gold on this day. For, jewellers, who usually hope for big sales, the hurried offloading of stocks over the past one month as prices went up is proving to be a dampener. Now, with the anticipated fall in prices nowhere to be seen, a number of gold traders are not in a position to buy more inventory at the current prices.
So high prices are proving to be a deterrent for consumers as well as traders.
For consumers, the recent easing of rates may be a bit beneficial in buying for the festival, say traders. On Tuesday, gold was priced at Rs96,400 a tola (10 grams), down from a peak of over Rs99,000, excluding GST. While this may encourage consumers, for a sizeable section of traders, the rates are still on the higher side compared to the price at which they sold the metal, says a trader.
Normally, traders quickly replenish their stock. However, anticipating a crash, a section of traders sold off their gold in the open market to book profits. With the current market rates, they are unable to buy again. There are reports of a large number of traders being trapped in the bull market, said Rajesh Thakker of M/s Dipti Traders, a wholesale firm in Akola.
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This was also confirmed by Nitin Khandelwal, a former director in the Gems and Jewellery Council (GJC), a nationwide trade guild. He said messages spread on social media took a heavy toll.
Rajesh Rokde, president of GJC, though said the counters have bookings for taking delivery on Akshaya Tritiya. "It's festive time, and consumers are comfortable with the current prices," he said.
Bharat of M/s Batukbhai and Sons said that apart from Akshaya Tritiya, the marriage season during the coming month is also driving consumers, despite the rates being on the higher side.
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