Two announcements, one benchmark

The India Bullion and Jewellers Association publishes its rate twice on every trading day. The morning figure and the afternoon figure are never the same, because the international price moves between the two announcements. The table above shows both, and the difference between them is a fact about timing.

Two announcements, one day

The same benchmark, published in the morning and again in the afternoon.

What the two columns show

The table above has a column for the morning announcement and a column for the afternoon announcement. Each column is the association's own published rate for that session. The rates are read from the page by container, so a figure can never be taken from the wrong half of the page.

The difference between the two columns is the change in the benchmark during the trading day. It is not a forecast, and it is not a recommendation. It is simply what the association announced at two different times.

What the difference tells a buyer about timing

The difference between the morning and afternoon rates tells a buyer that the benchmark moves during the day. A purchase made in the morning is priced on the morning rate; a purchase made in the afternoon is priced on the afternoon rate. The difference is not predictable.

A buyer who needs to buy on a particular day may choose to wait for the afternoon rate, but that is a gamble. The rate could be higher or lower. The only certainty is that the two figures will differ.

The benchmark is not a shop's price

The association's rate is a benchmark, not a shop's price. A shop may use the morning rate, the afternoon rate, or its own rate altogether. The benchmark is used for tax, for lending against jewellery and for buy-back counters. It is not what a buyer pays at a counter.

A buyer who compares a shop's price to the benchmark should know which announcement the shop is using. A shop that uses the morning rate may appear cheaper than a shop that uses the afternoon rate, but the difference is only the time of day.

The international price is never taken from the same page

The international price comes from two independent sources, a gold price in dollars an ounce and a dollar-rupee rate. It is never taken from the association's page. This is a cross-check, not a forecast.

The domestic premium is the difference between the domestic benchmark and the international price. It moves with demand, with the rupee, and with other factors. The premium is not published by the association, and it is not shown in the table above.

The date the rate carries is shown rather than hidden

The association does not publish on weekends or on holidays, so the most recent rate is sometimes a day or two old. The date it carries is shown rather than hidden. A buyer who sees a rate should check the date before using it.

A rate that is a day old is not wrong, but it is not today's rate. The association's next announcement will supersede it. The table above shows the most recent rate, with its date.

The two announcements in one sentence

The association publishes a morning rate and an afternoon rate on every trading day, and the two are never the same because the international price moves between them. A buyer should know which announcement a shop is using.