Gold rush pulls prices down

BANGALORE: Hope drove them. For, it is believed that if you buy gold on Akshaya Tritiya, it will keep coming to you throughout the year.
And so, on Thursday, women dragged their husbands out of home, left kitchen chores and made a beeline for the neighbourhood gold shop.
So much was the rush for gold on Thursday, that shop owners across the city admitted that Akshaya Tritiya has outshone even Diwali.
Gold touched the lowest price on Thursday, according to shop owners. The going price was Rs 550 per gram of 22 carat gold, down by six per cent compared to last week, encouraging people to shop. And they did.
Retail gold stores wore the look of wholesale stores, thanks to crowds pressing together to get a peek at gold counters. The hottest items were chains, rings and stud earrings.
"At least 20 of my customers who got married on Akshaya Tritiya, have placed orders before but taken deliveries only on this day," Navrathan Gold Jewellers MD M. Gautam Chand said.
Several stores opened hours before regular time. A case in example is Jewels De Paragon (JDP) that opened at 7 am, three hours before time! Managing director K.V. Kishore said, "Till 9 am, we got a crowd of 1,600."