Asian gold demand was mixed this week with Indian jewellers stocking up for the wedding season while rising prices kept buyers on the sidelines elsewhere.

After delaying purchases last month in anticipation of an import duty cut in the federal budget, jewellers in India have started rebuilding inventories on the back of an uptick in retail demand due to the wedding season. "The uncertainty over the duty cut is over. Jewellers are building inventory," said Chanda Venkatesh, managing director with CapsGold, a bullion merchant in Hyderabad.

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 Last week, the Indian government presented its budget for the 2017/18 financial year, but didn't change the import duty on gold. The bullion industry had urged the government to reduce the duty to combat smuggling, which has increased since India raised it to 10 percent in August 2013 in an effort to narrow a gaping current account deficit.