(MENAFN - Khaleej Times) The 33rd MidEast Watch and Jewellery Show concluded on Saturday after giving a good head start to gold and diamond buying for the forthcoming festival season. Stable gold prices, which remained in the 1,770-1,790 levels, also spurred sales at the five-day show.
Last week, during the course of the show from October 2 to 6, gold price was the highest on Friday, at 1,796 a troy ounce. It did fell back to 1,770 levels, before recovering to close the week at the 1,782 level. The yellow metal has been on a gradual uptrend since August 1 this year, when the price stood at 1,599, to reach the current level without major wild swings, thus seeing good demand for jewellery as well as bars and coins. Gold reached new all-time highs last week against the euro, Swiss franc and South African rand.
The Emirates NBD is bullish on gold, forecasting that once the yellow metal regains 1,800, it will rise further and reach 2,000 within 2012 itself. Several exhibitors at the show also supported this projection, saying that the series of festivals that are coming up starting with Eid Al Adha will stoke further demand for gold and drive up prices.
Diamond too had many takers at the show, with the price for a one-carat stone almost doubling in the past decade, rising from 15,000 to 29,000, offering tremendous value for buyers. The favourable market conditions coupled with the upcoming festive buying season resulted in the jewellery Show attracting 53,539 visitors, higher than the figure of 51,748 registered during the autumn edition of the biannual show last year.
"The positive market sentiment and the excitement surrounding the festival season clearly reflected in the good visitor turnout and sales at the show. Returning consumer confidence was also amply visible, as gems and jewellery with high price tags too had takers in large numbers," said Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, director-general, Expo Centre Sharjah.
