India health crisis set to crimp nascent rebound in gold demand

A salesman waits for customers at a jewellery shop

NEW DELHI: A fledgling recovery in India’s gold demand in the first three months of the year may be snuffed out by an explosive increase in coronavirus infections that keeps people at home, damping sales during the key wedding season.

Purchases in the world’s second-biggest consumer jumped 37% in the January to March period to 140 tonnes after slumping to the lowest in more than two decades last year, according to the World Gold Council. A combination of softening gold prices, a sharp pick-up in economic activity and the return of social activities such as weddings supported higher consumption, it said.