Gold gains sheen, crosses Rs 30,000 after six weeks

Gold prices reclaimed the Rs 30,000 level after almost six weeks in India on the back of strong global cues and brisk buying by Indian jewellers ahead of the marriage season. In the Delhi bullion market on Saturday, gold gained Rs 200 to close at Rs 30,000 per 10 gm. 

Silver prices however declined by Rs 100 to end at Rs 41,700 per kg.

Gold prices had last closed above Rs 30,000 on March 4 at Rs 30,100 per 10 gm but then dropped to Rs 28,850 on March 10.

Gold imports are on the rise in India after a long period of decline. In March, imports of the yellow metal jumped 329 percent to $4,177 million from $973 million in March 2016, according to provisional data released by the commerce and trade ministry a few days ago.

In the preceding month, gold imports had gone up by 147 percent to $3.48 billion from $1.40 billion in February 2016.

In January, India had imported gold worth $2.04 billion, marking a fall of 29.94 percent from $2.91 billion in January 2016. 

On Friday, gold stocks remained range-bound on the stock exchanges. While Titan ended almost flat at Rs 479, PC Jeweller gained 0.23 percent to close at Rs 422 and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri ended 0.71 percent higher at Rs 85.

TBZ will be opening its 33rd India store on Sunday at Jamnagar, Gujarat. Gold purchases are subject to increasing restrictions in India as part of the government's efforts to restrict cash transactions. The Narendra Modi government capped cash transactions at Rs 2 lakh with effect from April 1 this year.

As of Friday (April 21), TCS maintained its position as the most-valued company in India, despite losing Rs 3,280.76 crore to end with a market capitalisation of Rs 4,55,405 crore. TCS was followed by Reliance Industries (Rs 4,55, 105 crore) and HDFC Bank (Rs 3,83,549 crore).