For 2012, industry officials expect gold imports to drop by 30% to 40% from a record 969 tons in 2011 after the government doubled the import duty on gold to 4% and the weaker Indian rupee made dollar-denominated gold purchases more costly.
In India, gold ETF trading volume soared Sunday during the special trading session, The Economic Times reports.
Meanwhile, U.S. investors can trade on the pick up in demand with U.S.-listed ETFs:
- SPDR Gold Shares ETF (NYSEArca: GLD)
- iShares COMEX Gold Trust ETF (NYSEArca: IAU)
- ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares ETF (NYSEArca: SGOL)
- Powershares DB Gold Fund ETF (NYSEArca: DGL)
- ETFS Physical Asian Gold Shares ETF (NYSEArca: AGOL)
For more information on gold, visit our gold category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own GLD.