Import duty cut to boost gold demand

The new government of President Joe Biden in the US seems to have started off well as the economic parameters suggest. Within our country too, markets zoomed to the new heights following the bumper Union budget presented on February 1. Consequently, New York gold closed at $1815.20 (per Ounce) while silver closed at $26.74 (per Ounce). Platinum and palladium closed at $1121 (per Ounce) and $2,274 (per Ounce) respectively.

Other economic parameters remained moderate. Brent closed at $59.34 (per barrel) while Crude MCX oil was quoted at Rs 4,144 (per barrel). While Gold MCX stood at Rs 47,270 (per 10 gms), MCX Silver closed at Rs 68,671 (per kg), Copper MCX closed at Rs 610.10 (per kg). Sensex and Nifty 50 after touching the record levels of 51,000 and 15,000 following the presentation of Union budget closed at 50,731.63 and 14,924.25 points respectively on the closing day, the leading foreign currencies' exchange rates were, US $: Rs 72.79, British Pound: Rs 99.99, Euro: Rs 87.68, Singapore $: Rs 54.57, Swiss Franc: Rs 80.96, Australian $: Rs 55.88, Saudi Riyal: Rs 19.41, New Zealand Dollar: Rs 52.27, Kuwaiti Dinar: Rs 240.42, Omani Rial: Rs 189.16 and UAE Dirham: Rs 19.82, Japanese Yen: Rs 0.69, Hong Kong Dollar: Rs 9.39.

In local markets, the renewed optimism was seen in the jewelry market, thanks to the Finance Minister who announced the 5 per cent cut in the import duty on gold. There is great demand for gold ornaments in the USA, Canada and Middle East countries. The import-duty reduction will also provide the much needed boost to the gold-making units which are spread over in the MSME sector.