Mukesh Kumar

Senior Analyst, India

World Gold Council

Mukesh joined the World Gold Council in March 2015, and works within the Research team. He has previously held positions with CRU International, Hatch Associates and Steel Authority of India Limited, focusing on consulting and research for the metals and mining industry.

In his current role, Mukesh plays an important role in maintaining and strengthening World Gold Council’s understanding of India’s gold market and he has developed strong connections with local Indian Gold industry. He focuses on developing timely insights on the Indian gold market including demand, supply as well as role of gold in investor portfolios.

Mukesh has a Bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from ISM Dhanbad and an MBA from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.

The strategic case for gold: India

As Indian investors allocate a higher share of their capital to equities, they have exposed themselves to greater risk. Gold plays an important role in helping investors manage the risk-return profile of their overall portfolio allocation. Gold played its role as a safe-haven asset during the pandemic year of 2020 and has continued to provide a hedge against market volatility in 2021.

Posted 1 year 9 months ago

India’s gold market in July: imports rebound as retail demand improves with easing of lockdown restrictions

Retail demand was mixed in June: moderate strength in the first half of the month was followed by a softening of demand in the second half due to an absence of wedding dates. Official imports rebounded with easing of lockdown restrictions and the local market flipped back to discount as demand softened from mid-July onwards

Posted 2 years 2 months ago

India’s gold market in May: retail demand collapsed amid COVID-induced lockdowns

Summary

  • The domestic gold price ended 5.1% higher in May at Rs48,993/10g 
  • Retail demand collapsed amid COVID-induced lockdowns in the country 
  • Indian official imports slowed and the local market flipped to discount 
  • Monthly inflows into gold ETFs slowed as higher returns lured investors towards the equity market. Total holdings for Indian gold-backed ETFs (gold ETFs) reached 33.2t by the end of May; a net inflow of 0.1t (Rs2.9 bn; US$39mn)
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) added 0.9t of gold to its reserves in the month increasing its total gold reserves to 696.2t.
     

Posted 2 years 4 months ago