A dip in prices earlier this week fuelled an uptick in physical gold demand in Singapore and India, with activity in the Indian market also gathering pace ahead of the key festivals.

However, overall activity was muted because of the golden week holiday in top bullion consumer China.

In Singapore, sellers charged premium between 50 and 70 cents an ounce over the benchmark versus 50-80 cents last week.

Global benchmark spot gold prices fell to their lowest in nearly two months, at $1,458.50, early in the week, but have since recovered above the $1,500-level.

The Indian market was also helped by a dip in domestic prices with gold futures trading around Rs 38,200 per 10 gram on Friday after falling to Rs 36,771 on Wednesday, the lowest since August 13.

“The week started with aggressive buying from jewellers as prices corrected. But from Thursday again, demand started faltering because of a rebound in prices,” said Chanda Venkatesh, managing director of CapsGold, a bullion merchant in Hyderabad.

Retail purchases could rise next week because of Dussehra, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a bullion importing bank.

India’s gold imports plunged 68 per cent year-on-year in September to their lowest in over three years as record domestic prices curbed retail buying, a government source said.