If you’ve been noticing the rich wives’ clubs hanging around with a lot of time on their hands these days, it’s likely because the national jewelers’ strike just entered its 15th day.
Jewelers have been on strike since March 16th, after Pranab Mukherjee’s budget proposal was announced. The budget included provisions to double the customs duty on gold to 4% and increase excise duty on refined gold from 1.5% to 3% and imposing a 1% excise duty on unbranded jewelry.
So jewelers are pissed and are on strike, despite losing a ton of money for each day they are on strike. India, being one of the largest buyers of gold in the world, is a large factor in driving the worldwide demand of gold. With the strike, overall demand for gold has eased, and Gold futures have slumped worldwide.
The question is, though, once the strike ends, will there be a pop in the prices? Since we’ve had an insatiable appetite for gold in India over the last few decades, if that trend continues after the strike ends, there might be reason to be strongly bullish on Gold ETFs (yes, thank us later!).
It’s likely the strike will end on Monday, so buy up fast!
Bombay Wire 