To curb the increased smuggling of gold, the budget is likely to reduce customs duty

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However, since the government considers gold and silver as luxury items, some sections also estimate that such duty will not be reduced.

In the country's jewelery markets, there were indications that the second round of seasonal buying had started in the markets recently after Makar Sankranti ended. There were reports that marriages are going on in the country and the market has become more crowded as the baby boomer declines. Meanwhile, gold and silver prices in the jewelery markets have seen a fall behind the global market after the landing and there was a talk in the market that the seasonal buyers were also relieved due to this. Prices in the jewelery markets have come under pressure recently amid the fall in global precious metal prices, which has brought down import costs at home. Meanwhile, in the currency market, there was also a retreat in the dollar price against the rupee and its impact also fell in the form of softening of the gold and silver prices in the jewelery market, market sources said. In the Mumbai currency market, the dollar price against the rupee recently fell to a low level of Rs.83. Meanwhile, gold prices in the global market were recently quoted at around $2005 per ounce. There was news of better than expected retail sales data in the US and due to this, the global index of dollar against various major currencies in the world market rose to a four-week high. As the gold prices in the global market went from high to low, its negative impact was also seen in the home jewelery market recently. In Ahmedabad jewelry market, the price of gold fell to within Rs. 64 thousand per 10 grams. Ahmedabad silver prices fell and were quoted within Rs.73 thousand per kg. Meanwhile, players in the jewelery market in the country have their eyes on the upcoming Union Budget. Considering that the Lok Sabha elections are coming up in the country after the Budget, the markets are keeping an eye on the proposals of the Finance Minister of the Union Government in the Budget. Customs duty and agricultural infrastructure development cess on precious metals in the country have been around 15 percent duty burden. Due to such high duty, the amount of smuggling of gold in the country has also increased recently, said market insiders. In such a situation, the market players are watching whether such a high import duty is reduced by the finance minister in the budget that will be presented shortly. Many analysts speculate that gold and silver are considered luxury items by the government and due to this, the government is adopting a strategy of keeping customs duty high on such items. However, some sections of the market are also of the opinion that smuggling of gold has increased significantly in the country due to high customs duty and various other related evils are also created in the country due to the increase in smuggling, it is necessary to reduce the import duty on precious metals. This segment of the jewelery market was showing the possibility of significant reduction in smuggling if such import duty-customs duty is reduced.

Meanwhile, it was recently reported that jobless claims fell to 187,000 in the US, a new low since September 2022.

While unemployment claims in the US are falling, there are signs that the job market is getting stronger. Recently, the private sector job growth data and non-farm payrolls data also came in good and now the unemployment claims are also coming down, there is a possibility of inflation to remain high and due to this, there was news that the possibility of further interest rate cuts in the US has decreased. This had a positive impact on the global dollar market and a negative impact on global gold prices. Behind gold, global silver prices fell below $23 an ounce, while platinum prices fell below $900 an ounce and palladium was seen trading near $1,000 an ounce. As global copper prices fell, the opposite effect was seen on global silver prices. According to the American Petroleum Institute, the stock of crude oil in the United States has increased by approximately five lakh barrels, and the effect on gold was seen as the price of crude oil in the world market also surged.