India's Drier Monsoon Drags Down Gold Sales

摘要

For insight into the weakening gold market, talk to an Indian farmer. In a country where an estimated 800 million people depend on agriculture for their income and many revere gold as an ornament and store of wealth, farmers flush with cash during harvest season have made India one of the world's biggest buyers of bullion. Sales usually escalate in November, during the Diwali festival season. Farmers and rural Indians account for almost 60 percent of gold consumption in India-they buy gold as religious offerings and elaborate wedding adornments for a bride's dowry.