Agoracom

With gold prices remaining more or less stable at lower levels, the demand for the yellow metal in India, the world's largest gold market, has begun to pick up, traders said.

"As the gold price has dipped, demand has increased in the domestic market," Pankaj Parekh, regional chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council said in Kolkata. "Export of gold is also picking up," he said.

This vindicates the optimism expressed by the World Gold Council (WGC) in its latest report on gold demand and supply trends.

"There is some optimism that the upcoming Diwali festival and the second wedding season later in the year will provide a degree of respite to the decline in jewellery consumption," the report said.

In volume terms, the demand for jewellery declined sharply in the second quarter this year. India saw the largest decline in jewellery demand, which fell 47 per cent to 118 tonnes, the report added.