Gold bangles on display at a store in Patna. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Aug. 11: Gold is back with a bang, and consumers have been caught in a Catch-22 situation. After financial markets took a severe beating on Monday, speculation was rife over gold being the best investment. Now, people are confused as they flock to jewellery shops to sell or buy the coveted yellow metal.

Ritu Singh (50), like most others, feels that gold rates are quite high now but can plummet in the coming days. Ritu said: “It’s better to sell off gold now than to wait for rates to go down.”

Ritu added: “I have always been invested in the metal because I know it’s one of the safest ventures. I feel fortunate to have a good amount of gold with me, which include bars. I feel lucky that I bought gold over the years. Gold, these days is quite expensive and it’s the right time to sell it off. It’s not possible for me to wait. What if the rates go down?”

The jewellers, too, feel the mindset of people changed as the gold rates spiralled. “More than 50 per cent people coming to my shop want to sell off old gold. Previously, 20 per cent people among those visiting the shop used to sell off the metal. Among people visiting my shop, 70 per cent come to sell gold (old as well as recently bought). The rest are keen on buying or exchanging gold,” said Vivek Kumar of Alaka Jewel Jewellers.

According to Satish Keshri of Hira Panna Jewellers, the number of people selling gold has increased by a good percentage. Keshri said: “The previous percentage of people going for the same was between five and 10, whereas now, it is between 30 and 35 per cent.” Keshri at the same time feels that people are still going for buying gold as they fear that the rates might go up.

Stating that gold stands at Rs 26,110 per 10gm today, Keshri said: “People feel that rates might still rise and hence they are buying gold though the number has gone down.” On the other hand, Ravi Bhargava, a school director, feels one should not sell off the metal, as the rates would rise further. Bhargava said: “It’s not wise selling off old gold at present because the rates would go higher.”

However, Umesh Tekriwal, the store manager of Tanishq, Frazer Road is quite content with the sales. Tekriwal said: “Escalating gold rates leads to people going for brands because they desire purity.” Tekriwal claimed that Tanishq provides brand value as well as purity, helping woo customers.