Indian Physical Gold Demand Heavy On Akshaya Tritiya

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Indian gold demand was heavy for the Akshaya Tritiya festival. Anecdotal reports suggest the demand will be the same as last year, if not a little more, despite gold's price being much higher than it was on last year's Akshaya Tritiya. The plummet in gold helped, as it provided a short-term bargain for Indian buyers on that auspicious day.

"We opened our shops at 6 o' clock instead of 9 o' clock today [Friday], and people were waiting outside even before," said T.K. Chandran, managing director of DKTM Jewellery Ltd., which has a chain of shops in southern India, including in the cities of Chennai and Coimbatore.

"Our sales so far this year [on Akshaya Tritiya] are already near last year's level," he said at noon, adding, the auspicious time for purchases will end about 1530 hours local time (1000 GMT)....

Ashish Pethe, a partner of Mumbai-based Waman Hari Pethe Jewellers, said he expects sales at its shops to rise about 5% this Akshaya Tritiya from last year's festival day.

Although buyers were attracted to gold, the plunge in silver tended to scare them off. That plummet engendered too much uncertainty, as a 30% drop in a week makes one wonder how much farther the gray metal will drop.