ASIA GOLD-Price rise dulls activity in top Asian hubs
By Rajendra Jadhav and Brijesh Patel
Aug 8 (Reuters) - Physical gold demand in key Asian hubs slipped this week as a rise in prices weighed on buying interest, while higher rates encouraged some to cash in on their holdings.
"Buyers aren't keen on picking up gold at these prices. In fact, some investors are offloading the coins and bars they grabbed when prices were lower," said Ashok Jain, proprietor of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji.
In India, domestic gold prices MAUc1 were trading around 102,100 rupees ($1,165.45) per 10 grams on Friday after hitting a record high of 102,191 rupees earlier.
Indian dealers this week quoted a discount XAU-IN-PREM of $9 to a premium of $2 per ounce over official domestic prices, inclusive of 6% import and 3% sales levies, compared to the last week's discount of up to $7.
Jewellery exporters are not keen to buy gold, as demand from their biggest market, the United States, is likely to fall due to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank.
In top consumer China, bullion changed hands at par to a $2 premium an ounce over the global benchmark spot price XAU-CN-PREM. Last week, dealers quoted gold between a discount of $4.2 and a premium of $12 per ounce.
"Last week, we saw some buying interest, but this week prices have been on the rise, so there's less buying interest. Overall, we are seeing people buying gold on dips," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals.
In Hong Kong, gold XAU-HK-PREM was sold at par to a premium of $1.60, while in Singapore XAU-SG-PREM, gold traded between at-par prices and a $2.50 premium.
"As gold prices have gone up, we see more selling from the retail and wholesale sides. We see more of them borrowing gold at this point in time because prices are edging on the higher side," said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based GoldSilver Central.
In Japan, bullion XAU-TK-PREM was sold at a $0.25 premium over spot prices, according to a Tokyo-based trader.
($1 = 87.6060 Indian rupees)
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