No Decrease in 10% Indian Gold Import Duty, China Cuts Interest Rates
Gold inflows to India – the world’s heaviest consumer nation for some 2,000 years – will continue facing 10% import duty after Saturday’s new government budget disappointed jewelers hoping for a cut to 6% or even 2%.
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China’s central bank cut interest rates for the second time in 3 months over the weekend. The People’s Bank of China on Monday cut its benchmark lending rate to 5.35% and cut its deposit rate by the same 0.25 percentage points to 2.5% per year. World stock markets edged higher as the Yuan fell to a 2-year low against the US dollar and major commodities slipped a further 0.5% overall. New Purchasing Managers’ Index data today said activity in China’s manufacturing sector fell in February for the second month running.
On Friday, February 27, the day’s biggest mover was the price of Chinese palladium bar, which saw a 5.2% increase to CNY 183.00 ($29.25) per gram. This increase comes after three straight days of stagnant prices. At JPY 3,117 ($26.11), the price of Japanese palladium bar finished the market day up 0.5% per gram. US palladium bar finished the day up 0.4% to $807.00 per ounce.
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After remaining flat for three days, the price of Chinese platinum bar fell 1.9% last Friday to CNY 254.00 ($40.60) per gram. US platinum bar prices inched up 0.3% to $1,172 per ounce. The price of Japanese platinum bar increased 0.1% to JPY 4,517 ($37.84) per gram.
The price of Chinese gold bullion fell 1.3% last Friday to CNY 244.75 ($39.12) per gram. Indian gold bullion finished the day down 0.6% to INR 26,412 ($427.73) per 10 grams. US gold bullion prices rose 0.4% to $1,209 per ounce. Japanese gold bullion gained 0.2% to finish at JPY 4,630 ($38.78) per gram.
The price of Chinese silver moved last Friday. After a few changeless days, prices dropped 2.1% to CNY 3,565 ($569.82) per kilogram. Japanese silver saw its price rise 0.9% to JPY 638.00 ($5.34) per 10 grams. After a 0.1% increase, Indian silver finished the day at INR 36,965 ($598.63) per kilogram. The price of US silver flattened at $16.53 after two days of improvement.
[download-button url=”https://agmetalminer.com/monthly-report-metal-price-index-trends-february-2015/”] Download: MetalMiner’s February Price Trends Report[/download-button]