At a bullion conference recently held in India, several bullion analysts and research heads, traders and retailers in gold spoke of their fears and spelled out their predictions. Trade members at the conference said that they see India’s gold imports in 2009 somewhere between 460 to 550 tonnes, compared to the 712 tonnes a year ago. This is a combination of the high prices and an economic slowdown. The good part about these numbers is that although they mean a 23-25 percent fall on year, they show an improvement from the much sharper decline in the first half of 2009. The major festival which is just around the corner is where the hopes of all are pinned. Dasara and Diwali do bring about some compulsory buying and demand is definitely going to be better in the coming months. Till then all fingers are crossed. Data from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed imports in the first six months of this year stood at 126.7 tonnes, down 55 percent from 282.3 tonnes a year earlier. However, gold imports rose 7.6 percent to 41 tonnes in July from a year earlier and were also up in August, extending a trend seen since May, a WGC official in India said last week. Global Markets U.S. trade deficit changed little in July as imports and exports both grew, signaling a revival of commerce as the global slump eased. The gap between imports and exports increased 1.5 percent to $27.4 billion from $27 billion the prior month. Labor Department data released the next day may show the cost of imports rose in August for the fifth time in six months on higher fuel prices. Rising demand for U.S.-made goods from trading partners such as China, Mexico and the European Union is combining with domestic stimulus measures to help to pull the economy out of a recession. Finance chiefs from the Group of 20 nations meeting in London last week vowed to sustain efforts to boost the global economy. Gold News Gold in New York opened at $900.50/991.50 an ounce. As employment data came out near expectation, it did not make much of a dent on the metals climb and gold traded unruly for the first session. As equity markets turned positive, the dollar lost ground and gold rallied. AT the end of the day, gold retreated from its highs and settled at $995.00/996.00 an ounce. Silver opened at $16.06/16.09 an ounce and also rallied when the economic data flowed in. Later the metal traded lightly and fell, trading lightly within a range. As investors digested this, the metal’s move reversed on the back of a strong equity market and weak dollar. Silver climbed to a high and finally ended slightly lower than that at $16.26/16.29 an ounce.

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