India gold imports plummeted for the fourth consecutive month in May by nearly 40% to $1.47 billion, which is expected to keep a lid on the country's current account deficit. Gold imports stood at $2.42 billion in May 2015.

With Bloomberg citing familiar persons in the finance ministry as saying that May's gold imports totaled just 31 tonnes - a drop of 51 percent from year-ago levels.

That would come after India's gold imports dropped 67 percent in April - to just 22 tonnes. Showing that gold buying is incredibly sluggish right now.

Global investors snapped up a record 89.6 million one ounce silver coins in 2015, according to USAGOLD’s annual survey of global bullion coin sales. The strong 2015 showing follows an equally impressive 2014 for silver coins at 77.9 million ounces and 2013 at 85.4 million ounces. Year over year, silver bullion coin demand was up 14% from 2014. Last year was a banner year for gold bullion coin sales as well – the fifth best since 2002. National mints sold 2.75 million ounces in 2015 – an impressive 30% increase over 2014.

London has overtaken the traditional gold centres of India and China for shipments of bars from refineries in Switzerland, as the precious metal is sent to UK vaults to back a surge of buying from exchange traded funds.

The UK was the biggest destination for gold exports from Switzerland last month, Swiss customs data show, the most since September 2012. At 78.761 tonnes, more gold was dispatched to UK in April than to Hong Kong, India and China combined.

The Royal Canadian Mint Sells A Quarterly Record 10.6 Million Ounces of Silver in the First Quarter of 2016.

There’s something decidedly strange going on in the gold market, which seems to be something of a battle between different major financial interests. The gold price has fallen quite substantially in the past week to 10 days, and today slipped below the $1,240 level which had proved to be a bit of a resistance point. But, on the other hand investment into the big gold ETFs has been rising – and rising quite sharply. Normally rising gold ETF purchases are accompanied by a rising gold price, as we have seen throughout most of the year to date – and vice versa, but this pattern isn’t panning out – for now.

For the record, the biggest gold ETF of all, GLD in the U.S. added another 3.27 tonnes of gold to its holdings yesterday despite the fall in the gold price. Its holdings now are at 872.254 tonnes – up a massive 230 tonnes since the beginning of the year and are now at the highest level since end-October 2013.

The Akshaya Tritiya of 2016 was one of the dullest gold buying festivals in the last six years. This is apparent from the import of gold ahead of the festival.According to data released on Friday by the ministry of commerce, April gold imports were around 30 tonnes. March imports too were around 22 tonnes. Data for the two months prior to Akshaya Tritiya mark this season’s imports as the lowest in the last six years.

India's gold imports could hit a record high this year amid widespread smuggling to sidestep government levies on overseas shipments

Levin said he expects 15 percent of India's gold this year to be "smuggled in" or arrive via "other unofficial channels" to beat a 10 percent levy imposed by the government.

Levin also said more semi-refined gold, known as gold dore, was being imported from overseas mining companies because of a lower government levy.

Global physical gold demand slumped 29% in the first quarter to 781 mt, down from 1,097 mt in fourth quarter of 2015, the lowest level for six years, the latest survey by Gold Fields Mineral Services showed Wednesday.

The figure is 23.8% lower than 1,025 mt recorded in Q1 2015, the drop due primarily to weak Asian demand, according to the study.

Gold demand in India improved this week as jewellery retailers reopened stores after a strike, but the world's second biggest bullion market remained at a discount to the global benchmark as purchases across the region were curbed by higher prices.