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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: long-gone who wrote (45999)	12/15/1999 8:04:00 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

Traders expect a rise in gold demand from New Year Chennai 14 Demand RETAIL demand for gold in India, the world's biggest consumer, is currently low despite steady global prices but should pick up in coming weeks, dealers said on Tuesday. ''The market is very steady in terms of price but volumes are down and demand is likely to start picking up only after January,'' a bullion dealer at a private bank in Coimbatore said. The dealer, who did not want to be identified, said jewellers in the region's major gold ornament retailing centres of Chennai and Coimbatore, were currently buying about 350 kg of gold bars a day, compared with about 760 kg in July and August. South accounts for about 40 per cent of total gold imports. The country imported 480 tonnes of the yellow metal in the nine months to September 30, '99, compared with 482 tonnes in the corresponding period last year, a senior official at the World Gold Council, said. Trade officials said although the recent stability in prices at about $279-280 a troy ounce was a good sign, there was concern over possible oversupply on account of further sales by European central banks and their impact on prices. ''There is still some concern about the European central banks and it may not be a surprise if prices again drop below a 20-year low, unless there is a spectacular pick up in physical demand,'' a leading bullion importer in Chennai said. Jewellers said physical demand for gold jewellery, although better than the dismal festival season sales in October, was likely to increase towards the month-end. — Reuters ''It's a little better than the bad times in October and the year-end millennium sales organised by merchants should see demand picking up,'' said Tushar Mehta, a senior trade official in Chennai. Gold demand in India is traditionally high during festivals and the wedding season that starts in September and continues until the year-end. But sharp volatility in international gold prices, as the yellow metal rebounded from a 20-year low in late September to touch $340 a troy ounce in early October, hit country's gold imports and retail sales in October. Imports through the western city of Ahmedabad, which accounts for 30-40 per cent of country's total gold imports tumbled to 2.66 tonnes in October, from 12.19 tonnes in September. Mr Mehta said demand was likely to stabilise from mid-January onwards, provided the prices did not turn volatile. ''The market should stabilise and see a very gentle growth,'' he added. In '98, the country imported a total of 614 tonnes of gold, with imports through unofficial channels adding another estimated 10 per cent to the total. — Reuters economictimes.com