Demand for gold rises 15 per cent

Mumbai: India’s gold demand during the quarter ended March 2015 increased by 15 per cent to 191.7 tonnes led by a strong demand for gold jewellery. During the period, the demand for gold jewellery grew by 22 per cent to 150.8 tonnes. However, investment related gold demand fell by six per cent to 40.9 tonnes, according to data released by the World Gold Council (WGC).

It added that the positive returns generated by domestic equity markets proved an attractive alternative to gold’s investment appeal, particularly at a time when there were no obvious catalysts to give gold prices a clear direction.

A 22 per cent increase in gold jewellery demand during the January-March period, according to WGC, was more a refl-ection of unusual weakness in the year earlier period rather than any particular strength in Q1 2015.

However, the outlook for the sector is healthy given the upward revisio-ns to India’s GDP growth.  However, it said that the unseasonal rains and hailstorms that hit some parts of the country might undermine some of rural demand during the second quarter.