Gold recovers marginally as demand rises mildly

6 Jul, 2008, 0149 hrs IST, PTI MUMBAI: Gold prices recovered marginally on the bullion market here

on Saturday on mild demand from stockists. Silver, however, eased further on lack of industrial demand.

Gold was steady in Europe on Friday as fears over rising inflation balanced the effects of a strengthening dollar and slipping oil prices. Gold prices in New York ended at $932.70/934.70 per ounce as against the last weekend’s level of $927.20/928.20 per ounce. In London, gold was little changed at $932.10/933.10 per ounce.

In the domestic market, standard gold (99.5 purity) inched up by Rs 25 per ten grams to Rs 13,000 from Rs 12,975 and pure gold (99.9 purity) also edged up to Rs 13,060 from Rs 13,035. However, silver ready (.999 fineness) eased to Rs 25,065 per kilo from Rs 25,080.

Gold prices had tumbled on Friday after a long winning streak due to fresh selling from stockists due to fall in global market. Selling pressure gathered momentum after gold prices in New York declined as dollar strengthened against the euro and reduced the demand for gold, a dealer said.

Asia's exporters suffer as global demand weakens6 Jul, 2008

• HONG KONG: Cliff Sun is hurting. The 54-year-old chief executive of Kin Hip Metal Plastics had spent much of the past year grappling with rising labour and material costs in China and a strengthening yuan. Now that the US consumer juggernaut is slowing, he's throwing in the towel and relocating inland from coastal southern China.

"If we don't cut margins or even take small losses these days, we're just not able to get the same level of orders," said the former chairman of the Hong Kong Exporters' Association. "We're facing a bitter, cold winter ahead."

Sun and others that collectively make up Asia's mighty export engine face a difficult second half with Asia's central banks now ready to sacrifice growth to combat food- and oil-based inflation and with Europe no longer taking up the slack amid downward-spiralling US consumption. The worst is yet to come.

Demand for aspirational bikes likely to swell5 Jul, 2008

• NEW DELHI: While there is no sign of iconic American superbike Harley Davidson hitting India, the success of Yamaha’s twin superbikes—MT01 and YZF R1, which sold a total of more than 80 units in the past five months—has prompted other bikemakers to line up more products in this category.

Suzuki will launch its famed 1,340cc Hayabusa, GXR 1,000 and Bandit 1,250 bikes in September while Honda will introduce its two superbike models—CBR 1,000 and GLX 1,800—during the festive season in October. Kawasaki is eyeing the market and plans to sell its superbikes through Bajaj Auto’s network.

Yamaha had set an initial sales target of 50 bikes in 2008, but the better than expected sales of its two debutantes has prompted the company to look for other superbikes for the Indian market. Yamaha sales head T Maeda said: “We have sold most of the bikes in smaller cities. Demand for such niche bikes is rising as customers come to know about the various models available. We are looking at increasing our portfolio in this segment to cater to these super rich customers.”

Demand and supply Demand and supply analysisanalysis

Demand and supply Demand and supply analysisanalysis

Prof. Rama DeshmukhProf. Rama Deshmukh

What is ‘demand’?

•Demand =Desire +ability+ willingness

• Importance of the ‘demand’ for the manager

•HR•Finance•Marketing•Operations

Types of demand• Individual demand and market

demand• Autonomous and derived demand• Durable and non-durable goods• Short term and long term

Demand function

Demand is a function of many relevant variables.

Dx = f ( Px, Py, Yc, W, T &P, U , G, Taxes, E) The variables in the bracket are

Determinants of demand/Factors influencing demand.

Factors affecting the demand for the product• Related goods• Consumer income• Expectations• Demonstration effect• Demographic factors• Advertisement

Law of demandOther things remaining the same

demand varies inversely with price i.e. demand curve slopes downward from left to right ; more is demanded at a lower price than at a higher price.

Demand scheduleSuppose x=coffee, price =per cup

Px (in Rs) Qdx

70 1

50 2

35 3

15 4

7 5

An imaginary demand curve

A DEMAND CURVE MAY BE

Linear or Non –linear

Negative slope

Positive slope?

Increase and decrease in demand

Expansion and contraction in demand

Equilibrium

(Added) Value from the point of view of the

market• Consumer surplus• Producer surplus• Concept of

‘deadweight loss’

D

S

Q

P

E

Price determination• If the demand function for the pen

is Q= 150-5P and the supply function is Q=10P, what will be the equilibrium price and quantity?

• P=10, Q=100

Changes in the equilibrium

• Shift in the demand and supply curves

• Change in the slope of the demand and supply curves