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.

India’s gold market in August: Indian imports hit nine-month high but retail demand remained weak

Demand for safe haven assets and strong year-to-date performance, coupled with the price correction likely seen by investors as a buying opportunity, supported gold ETF flows. On the other hand, retail gold demand weakened as consumers waited on the sidelines following a sharp correction in the domestic gold price amid rising COVID-19 cases.

Posted 3 years 1 month ago

India’s gold market in June: Jewellery demand improved further, continued inflows into Indian gold ETFs

Jewellery demand improved further in the month but failed to recover completely due to recurring lockdowns, lower number of weddings and lack of auspicious days in the month. Bullish gold price momentum and safe-haven demand lured investors towards gold ETFs. Total holdings for Indian gold ETFs reached to 24t in June.

Posted 3 years 3 months ago

Wedding season revives gold demand in November a little – but the market is still soft

Summary

  • Indian gold imports were 62.3t in October 2019 – 11% lower than the same month last year
  • The domestic gold price declined by 2% in November, ending the month 20% higher than the end of 2018
  • With the onset of the wedding season in November, the local market was back in premia of US$1/oz on 6th November after trading at discount for more than five months, but lower than expected wedding volumes pushed the market back into discount by end of November
  • Late withdrawal of the monsoon, with heavy rainfall in several states of India, damaged kharif crops, leading to more than 50% of kharif crops trading below the minimum support price (MSP) due to high moisture content and little progress in procurement of crops from government . This will impact rural income in Q4 2019

Posted 3 years 10 months ago

Dhanteras fails to boost gold sales in October

Summary

  • Indian gold imports were 38.3t in October 2019 – 15% lower than the same month last year
  • The domestic gold price rose by 3.1% during October, ending the month 22.4% higher than the end of 2018
  • With the festival of Dhanteras in October and onset of wedding season in November, the discount in the local market narrowed to US$3/oz by end of October from a discount of US$29.5/oz at end of September
  • Late withdrawal of the monsoon, with heavy rainfall in several states of India, damaged the kharif crops and more than 60% of kharif crops traded below the minimum support price (MSP) in October due to high moisture content and little progress in procurement of crops from government.

Posted 3 years 11 months ago