Lofty prices eclipse buying interest in physical gold across Asian hubs
Gold demand in India remained sluggish this week because of record high prices and as jewellers were busy closing accounts for the financial year, while most other Asian hubs also saw waning buying interest.
"Jewellers were not making purchases," said Harshad Ajmera of wholesaler JJ Gold House in Kolkata. India's financial year runs from April to March.
Domestic gold prices hit a record high of 89,796 rupees per 10 grams earlier this month and have risen nearly 15% so far in 2025.
Indian dealers this week offered a discount of up to $33 an ounce over official domestic prices – inclusive of 6% import and 3% sales levies, down from the last week's discount of as much as $41.
Retail demand was negligible, and jewellery stores across the country were reporting lower footfalls, said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer.
In top consumer China, dealers offered gold between a discount of $4 and a premium of $1 per ounce above international rates.
"We are seeing some demand destruction on elevated gold prices," independent analyst Ross Norman said.
China's net gold imports via Hong Kong saw a more than five-fold drop in February and were below its exports for a second consecutive month. Meanwhile, supplies of bullion to China from Switzerland dried up completely in February.
"Gold demand in China was so weak in February that gold traders exported the surplus gold to Hong Kong and Switzerland in order to benefit from higher world market prices," said Commerzbank in a note. [GOL/]
In Hong Kong, gold was sold at par to $2 premium, while in Singapore, dealers charged par level to $2.50 premium.
In Japan, bullion was sold at a discount of $0.5 to a $0.7 premium.
"Local investors are looking for dips to buy, even though the yen will strengthen more with rate hike talks," a Japan-based trader said.
