Dubai: The Dubai gold rate has slipped to Dh201 levels for 22K – just in time for anyone wanting to engage in some Diwali-related gold and jewellery buying. The rate had been in the Dh203-Dh205 range in recent weeks, and typically gold shoppers in the UAE look to price drops to pick up a few more grams.
International bullion prices remain under pressure in early trading today (November 4), with prices at $1,775 an ounce. The Dubai gold rate for today has been set at Dh201.75 a gram.
Already, retailers are forecasting a busy day – “While anything under Dh200 a gram would have been a huge bonus on Diwali day, shoppers will have reasons to be content with a Dh201.75,” said a top official at a leading jewellery store operator.
This Diwali, with gold rates sticking to the plus Dh200 levels, the leading retailers are offering promotions where they have dropped their making charges. This applies to both gold and diamond jewellery.
Two-speed market
But with tourists returning to Dubai in significant numbers, jewellery retailers are not exclusively reliant on domestic shoppers this Diwali, unlike the situation last year. “Tourist driven buying was heavy in October, and which will continue for the next two to three months – as long as gold prices behave,” said the retailer.
“I will say that our sales to tourists are now around 60 per cent of 2019 levels – that’s a vast improvement in a fairly short phase.”
Keep exchanging
The discounts on making charges average 15-20 per cent – but if shoppers are still not convinced, they can use some of the gold they already own for exchange purposes. If they exchange gold bought just five years ago, they get an immediate 39 per cent price benefit.
Even factoring in inflation and all other such details, that’s still quite a decent gain.
