Gold prices dip, but only just

CHENNAI: World economic and political scenarios have played a role in bringing down gold prices globally. Still the effect on retail purchases will be negligible, say industry experts. With Europe’s political problems bringing down the Euro, and the dollar strengthening, gold prices have dropped over the past few  days, albeit marginally. On the domestic front on Wednesday, gold dipped by `305 per 10 grams. It had fallen by `120 in the previous session. “This has been expected for some time,” said N Anantha Padmanabhan, regional chairman of the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation. “In the month of April, India’s gold imports dropped by 66 per cent. Last year, in the same month, we had imported 90 tonnes of gold; this year the figure came down to 32 tonnes even though Akshaya Thrithya was in April. If this trend continues, the prices will continue to fall,” he said, adding that world gold production depends on India as the Indians are the largest consumers of the metal.However, with the atmosphere in Europe looking unpredictable, consumers would do well to remain wary of the market. The marginal dip might not indicate a greater fall in prices, say others in the industry.Anantha Padmanabhan also quelled speculation that the fall in prices had anything to do with the rollback in levies announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee earlier this week. “Gold prices rely purely on the international market. This is a mere coincidence,” he said.