Gold sales crash 60% on Akshaya Tritiya in A’bad

Ahmedabad: Gold may have glittered, but buyers in Ahmedabad gave it the cold shoulder on Akshay Tritiya.
With gold prices and summer heat both peaking beyond comfortable levels, sales plunged nearly 60% compared to last year, Jewellers' Association of Ahmedabad (JAA) said. Jewellers reported a meagre 50kg of gold sold on Tuesday, a stark contrast to the 150kg bought on the same day in 2024.

Trading at a scorching Rs 98,000 per 10g, gold remained too hot to handle for most customers. Even as prices cooled marginally by Rs 1,000 on Wednesday, the damage was done.
"Demand remained muted. There were barely any walk-ins, no pre-bookings either. Gold touched Rs 1 lakh a few days ago — that shook the sentiment of investors. Even with attractive offers on making charges, customers simply didn't turn up," said Haresh Acharya, director, India Bullion and Jewellers' Association (IBJA).
Jewellers who had geared up for the auspicious rush found themselves delivering old pre-orders with barely any new sparkle walking in. "Sales in Ahmedabad were down by around 60% this year. Customers mostly opted for gold and silver coins in small denominations, while jewellery buying was negligible. There was barely any jewellery buying, maybe some 14 or 16 carat here and there, but that's about it. Eighty percent of what we sold was coins and bars," said Jigar Soni, president, JAA.
The combo of sky-high prices and skin-scorching weather proved to be the worst recipe for what's typically one of the brightest days for the bullion business.
Some shoppers who didn't want to skip the auspicious date entirely turned to silver, but even that saw only modest movement. Bullion trader Hemant Choksi summed up the mood: "There was barely any jewellery movement. The heatwave has truly sizzled the shine out of Akha Trij. Most of the action was limited to small coin purchases — 1g and 2g in gold, and 10g to 20g in silver."
In a year when gold became too rich — and too hot — for comfort, sentiment fizzled faster than molten metal. P 11