MUMBAI: Gold traders in India continued to trickle in at buying counters on Thursday, for a fourth session in a row as they sought to stock up for festivals starting August and take advantage of lower price levels, pushing up premiums, bank dealers said.
"We got good order fills at $1,159/1,160 (an ounce) yesterday, and the current levels are still attractive for local buyers," said a dealer with a private bank in Mumbai, which deals in bullion.
International gold, which guides the domestic market, was trading $1,166.85/1,167.65 an ounce, as against the previous close of $1,162.55/1,163.55, after hitting a three-month low of $1,156.90, a level last seen on April 27.
"We have plenty of advanced orders in the range of $1,150-1,157," said another dealer with a state-run bank. Premiums have moved up to $1.5 an ounce from 80 cents-$1 per ounce a few days earlier on a surge in demand from India, dealers said.
Trade suppliers from Europe hiked premiums looking at demand from India, said Pinakin Vyas, assistant vice-president with IndusInd Bank, a large gold importer.
Provisionally, India's imports for July stood at 14-15 tonnes, down from 28.4 tonnes in the year-ago period, but a spurt in demand has raised chances of an upward revision.
Indian gold demand is set to pick up for the busy festival season, starting with Raksha Bandhan on Aug 24, and extending till Dhanteras in November, the single-biggest gold buying day. |