Small traders see decline in sales amid falling gold prices

Ringing into the festive week with Dhanteras, gold buyers rejoiced the fervour as the shining metal prices plunged to Rs. 30,710, attributable to a weak overseas trend.

On Tuesday the stock market witnessed a Rs. 140 plunge in gold prices ahead of the auspicious occasion of Dhanteras, which is considered to be sacred for the purchase of gold, silver and other metal articles.

However, the small-scale traders across the country witnessed a significant decline in sales figures as compared to last year, in lieu of the new taxation scheme. Coupled with demonetisation, customers, they said, were forced to cut down their spending capacity this year, which has resulted in a 50 percent drop in sales.

Traders in Agra said while the newly-introduced economic reforms are in the interest of the economy, there were many loopholes in implementation, one of the most significant ones being the detrimental impact on small scale traders.

On the contrary, an employee of Kalamandir Jewellers in Surat stated that while the impact of the GST was uncertain, sales figures have turned out better than expected, backed by good amount of support from consumers.

A similar situation was also witnessed in Bhubaneswar, where buyers thronged local markets to purchase their Dhanteras items.

Earlier in the day, the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. (MCX) launched India's first gold options contract on the occasion of Dhanteras. The commodity options trading with gold was unveiled by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The launch of MCX's Gold 1 Kg futures contracts hedges all risks for those dealing in gold by giving them options for the future, Jaitley had said.

The impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on sales has been a topic of relentless debate, ever since its inception on July 1. While initial loopholes were detected and rectified, the GST council through their meetings stated that they were open to further discussion and redressal of grievances, wherever relevant.

Earlier today, Gold fell by 0.45 per cent to trade at USD 1,288.70 an ounce in Singapore, and silver at USD 17.09 an ounce. In Delhi, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs. 140 each to Rs. 30,710 and Rs. 30,560 per ten gram, respectively. However, sovereign continued to be enquired at Rs. 24,700 per piece of eight gram.