Gold rush in Hyderabad, not so much in Vizag

HYDERABAD/VISAKHAPATNAM: As gold price continued its downward spiral, denizens packed jewellery showrooms in Hyderabad on Thursday pushing up sales by a whopping 30-50 per cent, while residents in the Port City of Visakhapatnam preferred to wait for prices to sink further. The price of the precious metal recovered slightly to Rs 25,215 per 10 gram, but was still at four-year-low levels, worrying market players across the country.After being in wait-and-watch mode for the last few days, people of Hyderabad made a beeline for stores and jewellers heaved a sigh of relief after seeing record sales compared to the same period last year.“There has been a hike in sales compared to that of last year. Suddenly, the influx of people has been an all-time high. At the same time, investors are not trying to sell or exchange their gold hoping that the market will get better soon” said Naimish Mehta, manager, GRT Jewelers, which has seen a big jump in sales in the last two days.Meenakshi Jyotirmayi, a buyer, said it was the best time to buy gold rather than wait for the prices to sink further.Many people across the city have been planning to invest in the precious metal saying it was the safest investment one could have. “Usually gold is considered to be a safe investment, so buying it right now is a smart move. It would come in handy when I need to pay for my children’s education,” said H Anshul, a businessman.Dozens of stores across the city said there was a huge surge in buyers over the last two days. “We have put our best collection on display. While the response from the people has been overwhelming, some people are of the opinion that the prices would fall further,” said Darshan Gupta, proprietor of Mangatrai Jewellers.Meanwhile, in Visakhapatnam, the trend was quite opposite.Despite gold prices witnessing a steep drop, jewellery stores in the Port City are yet to see an increase in customer footfalls.According to jewellers, though gold has dropped by around Rs 205 per gram in the last one-and-half months, customers are adopting a wait-and-watch approach in anticipation of prices dropping further. “As gold price is witnessing a downward trend, people are waiting in the hope that it will drop further. Once prices go up a little, then they will start looking at buying gold again. But right now the market is very dull as people feel that prices will drop further,” said J Raghunath, general manager of Vaibhav Jewellers.But Mouli Krishna of Shyam Zaveri Jewellers pointed out that now is a good time to invest in gold as prices have hit the lowest in the last four to five years, but he expressed hope that sales will perk up when Shravanamasam kicks in in the middle of August.In Vijayawada, jewellers said the Aashadam month’s effect, which is considered inauspicious, is adding to the poor sales.“Last year, even during Aashadam, people used to buy gold when prices dipped. But this year the trend is different. The awareness among customers about global trends is the major reason for people to be in wait-and-watch mode,” he said.Customers said they would wait for some more time before making any big purchase. “We are carefully following the news and we heard that China will be dumping more tonnes of gold. The prices will obviously fall further and then we shall purchase. There will be a huge benefit when you are planning to buy 100 grams of gold,” said S Neeraja of Satyanarayanapuram.