Gold Discounts Widen in India on Lackluster Demand

Reuters reported that gold discounts in India have widened this week on the back of sluggish demand. Dealers are being forced to offer discounts of $6 to $8 on the global spot benchmark, up from discounts of $4 to $6 last week.
As quoted in the market news:

The value of India’s August gold imports jumped 140 percent from the same month a year ago to $4.96 billion, the trade ministry said this week. This followed a 62 percent jump in imports in July from a year ago to $2.97 billion.
Imports have been on the rise due to lower prices and expectations of robust purchases, but demand has been soft due to a weak monsoon.
“Anticipating robust demand everyone in the supply chain was buying last month. But demand is not as good as expected,” said Daman Prakash Rathod, director at Chennai-based wholesaler MNC Bullion.
“Now everyone is trimming purchases. Imports will be much lower this month.”

Click here to read the full Reuters report.