This story is from August 24, 2019

At Rs39k a tola, gold is not glittering in Bhopal

At Rs39k a tola, gold is not glittering in Bhopal
Representative image.
BHOPAL: Skyrocketing gold price, which is inching towards the Rs 40,000 mark per 10gram is leading to drastic decline in the sale of the yellow metal. Sources said that the gold market has been sluggish after almost a 30% price rise in the last one year. On Saturday, the gold price stood at an all-time high of Rs 39,000 in the state capital.
The president of Sarrafa Market Association, Naresh Agrawal said, "80% of the market went down since the past few months and only 20% gold is being sold in Bhopal.
The prices have gone beyond the reach of most people."
If the current trend continues, the upcoming festival season is also going to be extremely disappointing, Agrawal rued.
Since the past few months, gold price has been rising steadily. On Friday, it stood at Rs 38,000 per 10 gram while on Saturday it jumped to Rs 39,000.
With markets in general already showing a slowdown, the gold market is even more affected by the slump.
Take for example the family of Rajpurohit Sharma, who is preparing for a wedding at their house. Due to the exorbitant price of the yellow metal, his family members are confused about jewellery shopping. "Gold prices are going up every passing day and there is an atmosphere of uncertainty", he said.
"We don’t understand whether the prices will continue to go up further or come down. Even a marginal decline in gold price will benefit us. That is why we are postponing our jewellery shopping," Sharma said.

Navneet Agrawal, the state general secretary of Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal said, "Only those with extreme urgency will purchase gold at this point in time". He attributed the price rise to a variety of reasons including the ongoing trade war between the US and China and the rupee slump against the dollar.
Naresh Agrawal said that besides customers, the artisans involved in jewellery making may also be affected. “As there is hardly any demand for jewellery, jewellers are not placing orders for the making of ornaments. This may lead to the artisans losing jobs,” he said. He is pessimistic about the upcoming festival season starting from Navratra till Diwali and feels the market will not be able to revive in the next couple of months.
“People may curtail their gold purchase heavily. Those who want to purchase 10gram jewellery may settle down to 5 or 2gram. At the present juncture, I see a disappointing scene”, Agrawal added.
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