On Pushyanakshatra, platinum robs gold's glitter in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: Soaring gold prices are changing the preferences for precious metals that people purchase on Guru Pushyanakshatra, an auspicious day to buy bullion.
While gold buying remained at the same level as compared to last year, demand for platinum jumped by 75% in Ahmedabad.
Traders say with the price difference between the two metals narrowing significantly over the last one year, buyers were willing to experiment.Sensing demand, jewellers introduced platinum bars in different denominations — 5, 10, 31 and 50 grams — this year for the first time. Jewellers say they sold about one kg worth platinum jewellery on Guru Pushyanakshatra last year.
This year, 75 kg of platinum were sold in the form of jewellery and bars.
Gold buying, in contrast, saw a marginal dip in volume terms. Last year, Amdavadis bought 250 kg of gold bars and jewellery as against 225 kg this time around.
“Many buyers who came to buy gold and silver also purchased platinum," said Bharat Zaveri of Zaveri & Company, a firm that imported 100 kg platinum bars from Switzerland. Nearly 75 per cent bars were sold in Ahmedabad alone, he claimed.
On this day last year, gold prices hovered in the region of Rs 20,000 per 10 gram as compared to Rs 27,000 on Thursday. But platinum prices have maintained the same level at Rs 26,000 to 27,000 per 10 gram in the past 12 months. “Marginal difference in prices of these two metals has prompted buyers to experiment," says Shantibhai Patel, president of Ahmedabad Jewellers'Association. Patel said while platinum jewellery did not find many takers, bars were an instant hit. “It provided an option to investors. Demand for bars of smaller denomination was so high that the stock exhausted before evening," he said.
Textile trader Chitaranjan Shah traditionally buys gold on this day every year. This year, Shah bought platinum bars besides gold. “Usually, ladies did not like the diamond-studded platinum jewellery that jewellers used to show. But, platinum bars provide good investment option," said Shah.
Pranav Dalal, national head of Forever said that apart from gold, interest for pink and white gold also increased among people.