Asia Gold-China flips to premiums, Indian buyers eye bigger price dip
By Rajendra Jadhav and Arpan Varghese
June 25 (Reuters) - The physical gold market in top consumer China flipped into a premium this week as prices eased although activity was still subdued, while buyers in India held off for a sharper dip in rates as more jewellers opened up.
"Traders in Asia are waiting for lower spot prices," said Bernard Sin, regional director, Greater China at MKS, adding Chinese demand was likely to be quiet going into summer vacations.
Chinese dealers charged premiums of $3-$6 an ounce over global benchmark spot prices, versus discounts of $5 late last week.
"Being a price sensitive market this (switch to premiums) is entirely normal," said independent analyst Ross Norman.
While higher physical gold flows from Switzerland into China and Hong Kong reflect this dynamic, they're still well below pre-pandemic levels, Norman added.
Singapore premiums were unchanged around $1.20 an ounce.
A price dip toward the end of last week triggered activity, amid easing restrictions in Singapore, with "more retail clients appearing in our physical shop than previously," said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central.
Meanwhile, with most airlines still grounded, a shortage of physical platinum was leading to "huge premiums", Lan added.
In India, local gold futures slid to their lowest since April 30 at 46,633 rupees on Monday.
People are postponing purchases hoping for further price declines, said Ashok Jain, proprietor of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji.
Dealers offered discounts of up to $12 an ounce, the highest since mid-September 2020, against official domestic prices - inclusive of 10.75% import and 3% sales levies.
Stores are opening but jewellers aren't making purchases because of weak retail demand, said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a gold importing bank.
"Wedding season's over. There's no big festival in the short term to boost demand," he said.
In Japan, gold was sold between on par with the benchmark to a $0.50 premium. (Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar, Brijesh Patel and Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru;)
