People at a jewellery shop in T. Nagar, in Chennai on Wednesday, for Akshaya Tritiya.
| Photo Credit: R. Ravindran

Gold and silver purchases for Akshaya Tritiya gathered momentum on Wednesday (April 30, 2025) afternoon, with jewellers expecting sales volumes to remain steady despite record high prices.

The All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) anticipates a 35% jump in value terms compared to last year.

Gold was trading at ₹98,550 per 10 grams (including taxes) in Delhi on Wednesday, up from ₹72,300 during last year’s festival.

Buying precious metal on Akshaya Tritiya is a tradition widely followed in south India that has gradually spread across the country with increased awareness.

“We expect gold sale to remain steady at last year’s level of 20 tonnes. However, in value terms, we see 35% increase in gold sale today,” GJC Chairman Rajesh Rokde told PTI.

Shopping began early in south India, while northern regions saw increased footfall in the latter half of the day. An unexpected trend emerged with higher demand for gold mangal sutras and chains, alongside brisk silver sales, particularly for utensils, he said.

With the wedding season commencing during Akshaya Tritiya, demand is expected to rise significantly in the coming days.

Rokde noted that even consumers aged 25-40 are buying gold and silver, an emerging trend amid sharp rises in precious metal rates. Consumers are purchasing jewellery, coins, and bars based on necessity and budget.

“Affordability has been impacted due to rise in gold prices. However, there is strong buying sentiment due to Akshaya Tritiya,” World Gold Council India CEO Sachin Jain said.

PNG Jewellers’ Chairman Saurabh Gadgil reported that nearly 50 per cent of purchases involve old gold exchanges, allowing customers to manage budgets while maintaining festival and wedding traditions.

Kama Jewelry Managing Director Colin Shah said, “Overall, a 10-15% rise is sales was witnessed as compared to last year.” GSI India Managing Director Ramit Kapur noted an uptick in studded jewellery across key Indian markets, while Aukera CEO Lisa Mukhedkar highlighted the growing importance of lab-grown diamonds during this year’s festival.

The Confederation of All India Traders projects sales of approximately 12 tonnes of gold worth ₹12,000 crore and 400 tonnes of silver valued at ₹4,000 crore, totalling an estimated Rs 16,000 crore in business.

Buying of gold will continue till late in the evening on Wednesday.

Experts observe that gold demand has remained resilient over the past three years despite reaching new price peaks.

India imports 700-800 tonnes of gold annually.

With the US economy shrinking unexpectedly during the first quarter of 2025, anticipations that the Fed will gradually introduce rate cuts are high.
Federal reserve policymakers, however, are unlikely to read too much into the first-quarter GDP decline, though traders believe clearer signs of economic weakness by June could prompt the central bank to start cutting interest rates again, potentially lowering them by a full percentage point before the year ends, Reuters reported.
Figures released by the US Commerce Department on Wednesday showed that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.3%, falling far short of forecasts and marking a sharp reversal from the 2.4% growth recorded in the last quarter of 2024. The downturn, which caught markets off guard, was fuelled by a jump in imports, slowing consumer spending, and weaker government expenditure.
“The downturn in real GDP in the first quarter reflected an upturn in imports, a deceleration in consumer spending, and a downturn in government spending,” the commerce department reported. Consumer spending alone slumped to a 1.8% annual pace, down from 4% in the previous quarter, highlighting the toll that economic uncertainty is taking on households.
The contraction has deepened concerns about the health of the US economy, with all three major Wall Street indices falling sharply in early trading. While Federal Reserve policymakers have so far brushed off the GDP decline, financial markets are now betting that the central bank will be compelled to act by June, should further signs of economic weakness emerge.
Earlier, Fed Chair Jerome Powell had said that the central bank would hold steady on interest rates while it waited for “greater clarity” on the economic impact of President Trump’s policies.
Trump’s tariff policies present a challenge for the Federal Reserve as it works to maintain price stability and full employment, and tackling the widespread discouragement due to the fall in GDP.

An employee counts Indian rupee currency notes inside a private money exchange office in New Delhi July 5, 2013. India’s central bank was seen selling dollars via state-run banks on Friday as the rupee approached its record low of 60.76 seen on June 26, four dealers said. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (INDIA – Tags: BUSINESS)
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The rupee surged 38 paise to 84.58 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday (April 29, 2025) as trade-deal hopes and foreign fund inflows boosted investor sentiments.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s statement that tariff talks with India are in a positive direction enthused investors, forex dealers said.

However, geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan and a muted sentiment in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 85.15 and moved between the intra-day high of 84.47 and the low of 85.15 against the greenback. The unit ended the session at 84.58 (provisional), registering a gain of 38 paise over its previous closing level.

On Tuesday (April 29, 2025), the rupee gained 27 paise to settle at 84.96 against the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump said negotiations with India over a bilateral trade deal are “coming along great”, and he thinks Washington will “have a deal” with New Delhi.

Mr. Trump made the remarks on Tuesday (April 29, 2025) while speaking to reporters before departing the White House for a rally in Michigan, marking the first 100 days of his second administration.

“India is coming along great. I think we’ll have a deal with India,” said the President.

“Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), as you know, was here three weeks ago, and they want to make a deal. We’ll see what happens,” he added.

Prime Minister Modi visited the White House in late February.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading higher by 0.20% at 99.44.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.81% to $63.73 per barrel in futures trade.

In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 46.14 points, or 0.06%, to close at 80,242.24, while the Nifty fell 1.75 points or 0.01% to settle at 24,334.20.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,385.61 crore on a net basis on Tuesday (April 29, 2025), according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, is understood to have deliberated on the overall security situation in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday (April 30, 2025) amid speculations about India’s possible retaliation to the Pahalgam terror attack in view of its cross-border linkages.

The CCS meeting was held at the Prime Minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence, a day after he held a meeting with the top military brass and accorded operational freedom to the armed forces on the “mode, targets and timing” of India’s response to the April 22 attack that killed 26 people.

It was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, people familiar with the matter said.