India's 2010 Gold Buying Jumps

DEMAND to Buy Gold from Indian households overtook full-year 2009 by the end of September according to industry import reports.

"During the September quarter, gold consumption jumped 28%" from last year, says Ajay Mitra, managing director for India at market-development group the World Gold Council.

"Did anyone say rising Gold Prices would pull this down?" he's quoted by MineWeb after a press conference to launch the WGC's latest Gold Demand Trends analysis.

Buying Gold has made such a comeback for Indian households, in fact, that "traders and market analysts insist that the 750-tonne mark for imports is a sure-fire winner by the end of the year, says Shivom Seth at MineWeb – some 200 tonnes greater than last year's total.

The analysis was backed up last week by Swiss bank (and London market-maker) UBS, whose precious-metals strategist Edel Tully told a seminar for the London Bullion Market Association that its Gold Bullion sales to India are running 35% higher from this time last year.

Writing on Monday, Dr.Tully said UBS's sales to meet Indian gold-buying demand last week were the strongest since Oct. 27th – just before the traditional peak period of Diwali.

That "indicat[es] there's much residual physical demand in the system that will provide ample support on dips," she says.

Buy Gold – direct online – at live (and firm) wholesale prices from 1 gram up at BullionVault...