Gold discounts in India jumped to a record this week as a sharp import duty hike slowed demand and triggered investor selling, while investment demand kept Chinese premiums firm.
Dealers in India quoted discounts of up to $207 an ounce over official domestic prices this week, inclusive of 15 per cent import and 3 per cent sales levies, up from the previous week's discounts of up to $15 an ounce and premiums of $6.
The sudden price rise prompted investors to sell, while jewellers and retail buyers stayed on the sidelines, said a jeweller based in Hyderabad.
Earlier this week, India raised import tariffs on gold and silver to 15 per cent from 6 per cent. The world's second-largest consumer of gold also tightened rules for duty-free gold imports for jewellery exports by capping imports at 100 kilograms per licence.
Domestic gold prices in India were trading around ₹1,60,500 per 10 grams on Friday, after rising to ₹1,64,497 earlier this week, the highest in more than two months.
