Sharp fall in Akshaya Tritiya gold sales as prices bite

Source : : Reuters May 17 2010 , Mumbai

India's gold traders and retailers said late Sunday they saw
large falls in Akshaya

India's gold traders and retailers said late Sunday they saw large falls in Akshaya

Tritiya festival sales, in an indication demand may remain subdued through the rest of the year if global prices continue to stay firm.

The festival, which is more popular in south India, is the second-largest gold buying day in the world's largest market for gold.

"Sales are down compared to last year as prices have jumped in the last 10 days," said Lokesh Kumar Agarwal, chairman of Brijwasi Bullion, a large trader in Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state in the north.

"People who bought 10 grammes last year, bought only two grammes this time," said Agarwal.

Prices have hardened tracking the international markets, where weakening currencies and fears of a European bailout package have spurred investor buying.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX), front month gold hit a new record high on Monday at 18,416 rupees ($403.6) per 10 grammes, breaking the previous record of 18,339 rupees hit on last Friday.

Gold glitters

Source:FE:SANJEEB MUKHERJEE: Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 2123 hrs IST


 The Greek debt crisis and the subsequent weakening of the euro pushed gold prices to record highs. Panic-stricken investors rushed to shift their investments from currencies to the precious yellow metal, traditionally considered to be a safe option in times of crisis. In a matter of days, gold prices reached a record high of $1,243.55 an ounce in the spot markets, a gain of nearly 20% since early February 2010. US gold futures also followed suit, hitting a record of $1,244.80 an ounce. The metal’s dazzling rally has also rubbed off on silver, pushing spot silver to $19.57 an ounce, its highest since March 2008.

Now a target of even $1,300 per troy ounce for gold looks quite realistic provided the metal manages to break the resistance of $1,280 per ounce. Given that the world investor community is not entirely convinced about the bailout package announced for Greece and also fears that the crisis could spread to other European nations, there is a strong possibility that gold will continue its forward march, at least for the time being.

The scale of investor buying can be seen in the holdings of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, which said its holdings stood at a record high of 1,192.150 tonnes as of May 10. Holdings in the world’s largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, iShares Silver Trust, rose to 9,115.15 tonnes as of May 11, up 27.43 tonnes from the previous day. This is a definite sign that investor interest has turned strongly in favour of the precious yellow metal and its sister. The surge, however, could not have come at a worse time for India, the world’s largest consumer of gold. Just days ahead of the Akshaya Tritiya festival, gold prices in India have risen to an all-time high of over Rs 18,000 per 10 gm and if the trend continues for a few more sessions, there is a possibility that they might even touch Rs 20,000. Already, some traders fear that gold consumption during this year’s Akshaya Tritiya could drop to 20 tonnes from 42 tonnes last year because of high prices. The only saving grace—the rupee is fairly strong, which should make importing gold slightly cheaper.

sanjeeb.mukherjee@expressindia.com

The day when many changes took place

Devdutt Pattanaik, Hindustan Times,May 13, 2010 22:27 IST

    

Akshaya Tritiya, also known as Akha Teej, which falls on the third day of the waxing moon of the month of Vaishaka in summer(on Saturday) is a day of transition, of movement.

It is the day that marks the commencement of the building of the juggernaut chariots of Jagannath of Puri. It is the day when Ganga moved from the sky to the earth.

It is the day when an era changed — from Krita yuga to Treta yuga. Hindus believe that all life forms go through the cycle of birth and death. So does the universe. Just as a human has four stages of life, so does the universe.

These are the four yugas of samsara — Krita, Treta, Dvapar and Kali. Traditionally, on Akshaya Tritiya, the Krita Yuga came to an end and the Treta Yuga began.

Krita Yuga was the perfect age, when people did not want/need anything. All things that people wanted were available easily and things were exchanged generously.

All this changed when a King called Kritarjuna forcibly took away a cow that belonged to a sage called Jamadagni. Sages or Rishis were peaceful people and Jamadagni could protest but do nothing as the king being a Kshatriya possessed the strength of military might.

Rishi Jamadagni had a son called Rama. He refused to accept this animal-like barbaric behaviour of the king lying down. The king was supposed to defend and protect his people, not steal from them. Enraged, he picked up an axe and did the unthinkable. He hacked the king to death.

Akshaya Tritya is also called Parashurama Jayanti, to celebrate victory over Kritarjuna and the return of the Rishi’s cow. In a way, this day serves the same purpose in summer as Diwali in autumn, which marks the return of Raghava Rama after the killing of another avaricious king, Ravana.

Just like Diwali, it too is associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth.

Special trading in gold ETFs on Akshaya Tritiya

Source : F C : Dipak Mondal May 13 2010 , New Delhi

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) has decided to allow trading of gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Sunday May 16, the day on which Akshaya Tritiya falls this year. Akshaya Tritiya is considered an auspicious day for buying gold.

BSE said it will keep a special window open for trading in gold ETFs on on May 16. The exchange will keep the market open from 9 am to 3.30 pm on Sunday,

In a press statement issued on Thursday, NSE said, “Due to the increasing popularity of gold ETFs with retail investors, NSE has decided to have live trading session on May 16, 2010 only for trading in gold ETF’s. Trading will be allowed in gold ETF’s between 9 am and 3.30 pm.”

Brokers and fund managers told FC that in the past two-three years, sales of gold ETFs have seen a considerable jump on the day of Akshaya Tritiya.

Gold ETFs are traded in exchanges and each unit of a gold ETF is equivalent to 1 gm of gold. In India, there are seven fund houses – Reliance, Religare, SBI, Qunatum, Kotak, Benchmark and UTI Mutual Fund – sell gold ETFs. Gold ETFs in the past three months have appreciated by 9 per cent against average return of 5.86 per cent from diversified equity funds. “Though traditionally, physical gold is bought on the day of Akshaya Tritiya but over the past two-three years, even gold ETFs have seen a surge in sales. This is primarily because of the convenience gold ETFs provide. Unlike physical gold, there are no quality, safety or storage issues associated with gold ETFs. Because of this, the general perception about gold ETFs is changing fast,” Rakesh Goyal, senior VC, Bonanza Portfolio, said.

Surjeet Mishra, head, mutual funds, Bajaj Capital, said that in the past couple of years, gold ETF sales usually went up by 5-10 per cent but due to strong sentiments in gold prices, sales may rise by up to 25 per cent this year.

HDFC plans to sell 150 kg silver on Akshaya Tritiya

Source: PTI May 13 2010 , New Delhi

HDFC Bank, which is getting into silver bar retail, is aiming to sell about
150 kg of precious metal on Akshaya Tritiya (May 16).

The bank aims to sell a total of 100-150 kgs of silver bars through 80-85 of its branches spread over 21 cities, HDFC Bank said in a statement.
HDFC Bank is the first ever bank to sell silver bars in India following the huge success with gold coins, it said.

It would be available in 50 gm denomination, it said, adding that the launch provides customers an easy and reliable way of buying silver, a popular investment option, without any worries about the purity of the item purchased.

Silver has traditionally been the most favoured form of investment for Indians next to gold. Even today, India is among the highest consumers of silver in the world, it added.

Akshaya Tritiya gold sales seen halving

Source : Reuters May 07 2010 , Mumbai

Gold sales for the critical Akshaya Tritiya festival this month may drop by more
than half as prices stay close to their lifetime highs, a senior official at the
country's biggest industry association told Reuters.

Gold consumers may buy about 20 tonnes of the precious metal on the day of the festival that falls on May 16, less than half of the 45 tonnes they bought last year, Prithviraj Kothari, director with Bombay Bullion Association said on Friday.

"Looking at the prices, if they want to buy 10 grams, they will now buy 5 grams for the festival," he said.

The Akshaya Tritiya festival is one of the two most auspicious days of the year to buy the yellow metal in the world's largest gold market, as Hindus believe they can get lasting prosperity by buying precious metals on the day. The other festival is Dhanteras in November.

Gold futures , which touched a record high of 18,294 rupees per 10 grams on Dec. 3 last year. The contract has gained over 9 percent since April and last traded at 17,858 rupees per 10 grams.