SHINING SURGE IN GOLD LOANS

The rising price of gold has encouraged people to borrow against the yellow metal, as they get better terms for this asset compared to other forms of borrowing

- Narayan Krishnamurthy

The festive season in India is characterised by increased sales of everything—from clothes to food. But, the one item that gets a lot of traction is gold and jewellery, because of the tradition of buying the metal during festivals, especially Diwali. The past two months have witnessed an increase in demand after the reduction in import duty on gold announced in the Union Budget. Consumers are flocking to buy the yellow metal for personal and traditional reasons as well as to hedge their investment portfolios, given the global economic uncertainty caused by the ongoing conflicts.

Jewellers have witnessed an increase in demand by customers. They offer multiple sales schemes that also draw customers in. On the bourses, some of the small and mid-size jewellers are taking this optimism by going for listing. The stock prices of listed companies such as Kalyan Jewellers, P.N. Gadgil Jewellers and Senco Gold have been on the up in recent times and other smaller firms are looking to tap the markets. Rerating of stocks is expected, but the sentiments are favouring listed stocks as well as demand for gold.