Jewellery stocks fell 2-7 percent intraday on July 5 after government increased import duty on gold and precious metals.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2019 speech said the customs duty on gold and precious metals will be increased to 12.5 percent from an existing 10 percent.
Following the announcement, Titan Company dropped as much as 3.1 percent, Goldiam International 6.7 percent, Lypsa Gems 3 percent, PC Jeweller 4.84 percent, Renaissance Jewellery 2 percent, Thangamayil Jewellery 5.8 percent and Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri 6.4 percent.
At the same time, domestic gold futures rallied more than 2 percent after the announcement.
"Spot gold in the international market held steady near $1,415 an ounce as investors stay away from taking fresh bets ahead of the key US employment data scheduled later in the day. There are expectations that the job data would offer more cues on US Fed’s stance on interest rate cut. Anyhow, prices are on track for a seventh consecutive weekly gain with prices gained more than two percent during this week," Hareesh V, Head - Commodity Research at Geojit Financial Services said.
Pritam Kumar Patnaik, Head Commodities at Reliance Securities said the hike in import duties was unexpected, as market was expecting a reduction in import duties. "While the golds prices have touched new highs with Gold MCX August 2019 futures contract scaling beyond Rs 35,000 per 10 gram, we see physical demand for gold coming down due to high prices. However prices of gold will continue to remain firm."
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