Gold started trading at discounts in India this week for the first time in nearly a month as volatile prices deterred buying, while demand was robust in China ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
Indian bullion dealers this week offered a discount of up to $12 per ounce over official domestic gold prices – inclusive of 6 per cent import and 3 per cent sales levies, down from last week’s premium of up to $70.
“Jewellery demand has not recovered despite jewellers offering discounts on making charges. Retail buyers are not comfortable making purchases at current price levels,” said a Hyderabad-based jeweller.
Domestic gold prices were around 154,000 rupees ($1,697.39) per 10 grams on Friday after sliding as low as 133,687 rupees last week.
Bullion dealers and jewellers have largely stayed away from purchases from banks, anticipating that the government will allocate around 80 metric tons of gold imports from the UAE at concessional duty this month, said a Mumbai-based bullion dealer with a private bank.
Gold and silver shipments from the UAE attract lower import duties under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two countries.
In China, bullion traded at a discount of $8 to premiums of up to $10 an ounce above the global benchmark spot price this week, ahead of the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday starting on February 15.
“The year of the fire horse seasonally (sees) strong demand. My sense is that the very elevated prices have dampened demand reasonably significantly, but it still remains positive on the mainland,” said independent analyst Ross Norman.
The Lunar New Year in China and other Asian markets is traditionally seen as a strong period for physical gold demand.
“Encouragingly, the PBoC continues to acquire (gold), albeit at a rather modest reported level. Broadly speaking, jewellery demand is surprisingly robust” given price volatility and the incoming Lunar New Year holidays, he said.
In Hong Kong, gold traded at par to premiums of $1.80, while in Japan, bullion was sold at discounts of $6 to a $1 premium.
In Singapore, gold was sold at a discount of $0.50 to premiums of up to $3.50. ($1 = 90.7275 Indian rupees)
Published on February 13, 2026
