To: Little Joe who wrote (47718 ) 1/31/2000 3:38:00 PM From: Alex Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 116762
Shopping festival seen reviving gold demand Dubai 31 JANUARY GOLD sales in Dubai slowed in January because of a post-holiday lull, but traders see demand picking up ahead of the city's March shopping festival. "It has been a bit slow this month due to the millennium. People spent lots of money in December over the holiday season,? said Mohammed Salman, managing director at ARY Group. "But the basic sentiment is good. It's not like last year as the market is more stable and we will see buying come back after the end of this month,? he added. Dealers in Dubai's downtown gold souk said the shopping festival, which runs for the month of March, would boost demand promotions and the like, but also due to the influx of tourists expected over the period. "Jewellery is doing very well as the shopping festival is approaching. The market is gearing up for the festival and we will see good turnover during it,? one dealer said. Mr Salman said the market was looking to the shopping festival as its next focal point, adding that he expected demand to start kicking in again around mid-February. "The shopping festival always sees huge demand which the jewellers look forward to. The whole gold market does very well in this period,? he said. Traders also said Dubai's bullion trade was still feeling the side-effects of deregulation in the Indian market ? a change which meant the world's largest gold consumer could now import directly from source markets. That had resulted in Dubai's traditional role as a gold re-export centre for India slowly fading. In the past, up to 80 per cent of its gold re-exports were destined for India. ? Reuters economictimes.com