Singapore premiums range between 1 and 2.20oz
India hikes silver import duty to align with gold
Premium in China unlikely to fall in the nearterm analyst

Feb 3 Reuters Physical gold demand in India ticked up this week, as jewellers resumed purchases after staying away for a couple of weeks hoping for an import duty cut in the government budget amid the wedding season.

Jewellers were not buying for few weeks anticipating government will cut import duty in the budget. As there wasn39;t any change in the duty structure, they have started buying small quantity, said Harshad Ajmera, a gold wholesaler in Kolkata.

India did not slash import duty on gold in its annual budget presented on Feb. 1, but raised the import duty on silver.

Bullion industry was seeking a reduction in the duty as gold refiners have nearly stopped imports of gold dore, a semipure alloy, as grey market operators offer hefty discounts to market rates and cut into their slender margins.

But retail demand was still muted as consumers were struggling to digest record high prices, said a Mumbaibased dealer with a private bullion importing bank.

Local gold prices hit an alltime high of 58,826 rupees per 10 grams this week. This prompted dealers to offer discounts of up to 48 an ounce over official domestic prices inclusive of 15 import and 3 sales levies midweek, from last week39;s 42 discounts.

But discounts eased to around 14 on Friday.

In China, premiums of 1015 an ounce were quoted over…