India’s gold market is steeped in tradition and still highly fragmented. However, over the last few years the industry has become more organised and regulated. Although small independent retailers still dominate the landscape, the market share of chain stores (national and regional) has increased steadily during the last decade.

Gold ended August lower m-o-m, down 2% to US$1,715.9/oz – its fifth consecutive monthly decline. The promising bounce that began in mid-July ran out of steam in mid-August after failing to break the US$1,800/oz resistance level. This performance came against a backdrop of continued higher yields and a stronger US dollar as the US Fed reaffirmed its commitment to further tightening.

Global gold ETFs registered outflows of 51t (-US$2.9bn, 1.4%) in August, in line with price performance. This was the fourth consecutive month of outflows. Funds have now given back two-thirds of the inflows accumulated through April; y-t-d global inflows are 102t (US$7.5bn), with total holdings at 3,651t (US$202bn), up 3.6% on the year.