No knee-jerk buying in falling gold market

R. Ravikumar Updated - March 12, 2018 at 06:34 PM.

Making use of the record single-day fall of Rs 125 a gram, some jewellery retailers confirmed their open positions in the market.

“I have never seen such a big single-day fall. It’s down by 12-13 per cent from the last 200-day average price, and we may not get a better opportunity to buy,” said B.A. Ramesh, Joint Managing Director of Thanga Mayil Jewellery.

Going by the technical analysis made available to traders, he says, there is strong support at $1,460 and hence, chances of the yellow metal falling below that is almost remote.

“We believe, it will touch the $1,650-levels in the next two months.”

Consumer sentiment

On consumer sentiment, he said that though some of its stores reported a marginal increase in sales, “the fall has not spurred any great demand”. Consumers down South are different from those in Mumbai or Delhi. “In the South, people do not react at the drop of a hat. It takes a bit,” he said.

Besides, in those markets, people will sell gold and buy some other commodity or invest in the stock market. But, consumers in the South are sentimental about jewellery, and will not part with it that easily, he said.

Sandeep Kulhalli, Vice-President (Retail Marketing), Tanishq, said there was no remarkable upswing in sales at Tanishq outlets.

However, he said, sales in general have been good in the last two weeks thanks to the Telugu and Tamil New Year and the ongoing wedding season.

Resistance

Uday Kumar Vummidi, Director, Vummidi Ethiraj & Sons Exports, said there was a lot of resistance from consumers as they feared a further fall in the next few days. Vummidi, who is also the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Jewellers’ Federation, said: “Usually, gold closes the week higher and opens lower the next week. But this time, it has been the other way round. Could that be an indication that it may open at lower levels on Monday? Well, it’s a million dollar question, and I do not know the answer.”

>ravikumar.r@thehindu.co.in

Published on April 13, 2013 17:08