Jewellery stocks up on hopes of lifting gold import curbs.

Shares of jewellery stocks were on buyers’ radar as Finance Minister P Chidambaram may be looking into removing restrictions on import of gold. Stocks like Gitanjali Gems, PC Jeweller, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House,  Thangamayil Jewellery and  Titan Company  rallied 2-4 percent intraday on Thursday.

"India cannot afford to import gold of USD 50-60 billion. People must understand that every ounce of gold is imported," Chidambaram had said.

However, BA Ramesh,Thangamayil Jewellery said in an interview to CNBC-TV18 unless the 80:20 scheme is relaxed, a duty cut may not of much help. The gold imports had risen to over 300 tonnes in the first two months (April-May) of the current fiscal.

The government raised import duty on the precious metal three times taking it to 10 percent and also made it mandatory to export 20 per cent of the total gold imported.

Following this gold imports came down to 19 tonnes in November. The CAD too was brought down to 3.1 percent in April-September of current fiscal, from 4.5 percent in the same period last year.

PC Jeweller ended at Rs 94.30, up Rs 3.30, or 3.63 percent, Gitanjali Gems closed at Rs 64.00, up Rs 0.05, or 0.08 percent, Titan Company was at Rs 232.60, up Rs 4.05, or 1.77 percent, Shree Ganesh Jewellery House (I) was at Rs 26.75, down Rs 0.15, or 0.56 percent, Thangamayil Jewellery wasat Rs 149.90, down Rs 0.10, or 0.07 percent on the BSE.

Source : moneycontrol.com