India discounts widen as price volatility dampens demand; China on holiday

SelfRugger · 2026-02-20T07:09:53+00:00

Gold demand in India has declined due to price volatility, despite discounts offered by dealers. Meanwhile, gold prices fluctuated significantly, and markets in China were closed for holidays. ETF investments rose while jewellery demand weakened.

SelfRugger

2026-02-20 07:09:53

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India discounts widen as price volatility dampens demand; China on holiday

FILE PHOTO: A saleswoman places gold jewellery on display inside a Senco Gold & Diamonds jewellery showroom in Kolkata, India, January 28, 2026. REUTERS/Sahiba Chawdhary/File Photo · Reuters

By Rajendra Jadhav and Ishaan Arora

Fri, 20 February 2026 at 3:47 pm GMT+9 2 min read

By Rajendra Jadhav and Ishaan Arora

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Gold demand remained subdued in India this week as volatile prices deterred buyers while other ‌major Asian hubs, including China, were closed on account of the Lunar ‌New Year holidays.

Bullion dealers offered a discount of of up to $18 per ounce to official domestic gold prices – inclusive of 6% import and 3% sales levies, up from last week’s discount of up to $12.

“Retail demand is not picking up because of volatile prices, even though the wedding season is underway, and jewellers are making every effort to lure ‌buyers by offering discounts on ⁠making charges,” said a New Delhi based jeweller.

Domestic gold prices were trading around 155,000 rupees per 10 grams on Friday, having ⁠hit a record high of 180,779 rupees last month before sliding to as low as 133,687 rupees earlier in February.

Gold exchange-traded funds saw strong inflows last month, offsetting a slowdown in jewellery demand, but this month demand from both the investment and ‌jewellery segments has weakened, said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank.

Flows to India’s gold ETFs more than doubled in January from the previous month to 240.4 billion rupees, putting them just ahead of equity flows for the first time, Association of Mutual Funds in India data showed.

Markets in China, Singapore and Hong ‌Kong were closed this week for the Lunar New Year.

Spot gold prices were trading around the $5,000 an ounce level as of 0540 GMT, up from a one-month low of $4,403.24 touched earlier ‌this month. Gold had scaled a record high of $5,594.82 an ounce on January 29. [GOL/]

In Japan, gold was sold at a discount of $10 to premiums of up to $1.

“We saw a little interest for small bars but not active, looks like (investors ‌will) wait for another dip to buy,” said a Tokyo-based precious metals trader.

($1 = 90.7275 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ishaan Arora in Bengaluru and Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)

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