Gold ETF trades go sky-high in India; tumbling prices excite retail interest

Gold  |  2013-05-14 07:10:37   |   By

The gold exchange traded funds registered a significant jump in trade and retailers reported a ‘golden’ day of sales in India.

NEW DELHI (Scrap Monster) : The gold exchange traded funds registered a significant jump in trade and  retailers reported a ‘golden’ day of sales in India. Surprisingly, the gold prices failed to cash upon the robust investor demand and dropped in tandem with the falling overseas market.

The two stock exchanges of the country conducted extended live trading session of 150 minutes duration for trading in Gold ETFs on the occasion of ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ on May 13th. As per initial reports, gold ETFs worth INR 691 crores were traded on the NSE, registering a big 14% jump from INR 608 crores traded during the previous year. The number of gold ETF units traded also witnessed a similar jump, signifying investor appetite for the yellow metal has not subsided in this part of the world at least.

Bucking the trend, brisk demand failed to hold the gold prices firmer. The overseas gold prices which fell on the back of strong dollar and resurging equities, led to a fall of INR 400 in Indian gold prices. Though the final figures are yet to be arrived at, preliminary reports indicate that the retail sales shot up by 15 to 40% .Huge rush of customers was witnessed in retail outlets across the country.

There were offers galore to entice customers.NSE had waived off the transaction charges on gold ETF purchase. India Post came out with a unique offer of 7% discount on its gold coins. The renowned chain ‘Valuemart’ pushed up gold coin sales by unleashing cricket batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s face embossed coins.