Market expects Akshaya Trithiya festival on May 13 to be a high point
Dubai: With two weeks to go for the Indian festival of Akshaya Trithiya, during which it is considered auspicious to buy gold, jewellery retailers are hoping bullion prices would hint at some stability during this period.
“If values remain bound to a certain level, demand during the peak buying phase of Akshaya Trithiya could well push retailer volumes to what they would average in a good month,” said Cyriac Varghese of Sky Jewellery, which is offering buyers the option to make pre-bookings and thus get a lock on values. “If gold prices were to drop, then sky is the limit on what transactions would be… provided the trade here gets sufficient volumes coming in.”
While Akshaya Trithiya relates to a single day — this year falling on May 13 — purchases usually build up three to four days ahead of it. This year, retailers hope prospective buyers will start coming in even earlier, prompted by the way gold prices have been behaving in recent weeks.
Leading jewellery chains are already hitting the market with dedicated campaigns — Damas has introduced 22 new sets as part of its 2013 Akshaya Trithiya collection.
