WGC: India’s gold jewellery demand up 16%

Overall gold jewellery demand up slightly by 1%
WGC: India’s gold jewellery demand up 16%

World Gold Council released its Gold Demand Trends which analysed global gold demand in the first quarter of 2017 (January to March 2017). Demand for gold overall was lower by 18 percent and stood at 1,034.5t. The demand in Q1 2016 was the strongest ever first quarter performance. Inflows into ETFs were at 109.1t were solid but yet were a fraction of last year’s near-record inflows as per WGC.

Central bank demand was slower which further led to the dip in gold demand. Coin and bar investment rose 9 percent to 289.8t, which was highly led by China, where retail investment rose 30 percent, crossing 100t the fourth time on record. Jewellery and technology sectors witnessed a firming of gold demand.

Global gold jewellery demand as per the report was positive, although with a small 1 percent increase to 481t on y-o-y basis. WGC notes that the Indian gold jewellery demand helped spur the overall figures, although demand remains relatively weak in an historical context. WGC noted the ‘Indian consumers enjoyed a period of relative stability in the domestic market’, with overall demand rising 15 percent on y-o-y basis, to 124t, while in value terms it rose 18 percent to Rs. 32,420 crore. Continued remonetisation by the RBI buoyed consumer sentiment, which encouraged demand ahead of the auspicious wedding season, albeit from a low base. India’s gold jewellery demand was up 16% up from last year’s exceptionally low level, but at 92.3t it was still weak as this was only the third quarter in this decade when demand was below 100t.

China’s gold jewellery demand slipped 2 percent to 176.5t, as the seasonal uplift broadly cancelled out the impact of higher gold prices. The US gold jewellery demand resulted in the strongest first quarter output since 2010, with a 3 percent rise to 22.9t an outcome post election. Gold jewellery demand in other world markets was almost flat or softened due mainly due to stronger prices and seasonal factors.


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