Dubai, April 29 (IANS) Jewellers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are looking forward to the Hindu festival of Akshaya Tritiya May 13 hoping that it will bring stability to gold prices.
With less than two weeks to go for the festival, jewellers across this Gulf nation are coming up with various offers and schemes to attract customers, the Gulf News reported.
Hindus consider it auspicious to buy gold during this festival.
"If values remain bound to a certain level, demand during the peak buying phase of Akshaya Tritiya could well push retailer volumes to what they would average in a good month," Cyriac Varghese of Sky Jewellery was quoted as saying.
Sky Jewellery is offering the option of pre-bookings so that customers can get a lock on prices.
Though people buy gold on the day of the festival, many nowadays buy the yellow metal three to four days in advance.
"If gold prices were to drop, then sky is the limit on what transactions would be provided thwa trade here gets sufficient volumes coming in," Varghese said.
Meanwhile, another jewellery chain, Damas, has introduced 22 new sets as part of its 2013 Akshaya Tritiya collection.
Firoz Mewrchant, chairman of Pure Gold, is quoted as saying: "We are well-prepared and in fact (have started) the promotions for the festival."
The UAE is home to around 1.5 million expatriate Indians.
