Volatility in gold prices has not deterred Indian buyers, with customers increasingly treating price corrections as opportunities to enter the market, similar to equity investors, Titan Company Managing Director Ajoy Chawla said.

Many consumers who had earlier deferred purchases, being fence sitters due to rising prices, have now shifted strategy, choosing to buy during dips rather than wait indefinitely, he said.

"People have burnt their fingers being fence sitters, so they are now using every correction to come into the market, as they do in the share market," Chawla told PTI.

He acknowledged that volatility continues to mark the gold trade, but demand remains resilient. "Customers will try to participate. Those who missed out will try to come in," he said, underlining the strong sentiment around the yellow metal.

Titan's jewellery division, which includes the flagship Tanishq brand, has benefitted from this trend, supported by product innovation and festive demand in the December quarter.

Gold prices have shown significant volatility in early February 2026, fluctuating between highs near Rs 1.61 lakh per 10 grams and recent drops amid global cues and profit-taking.

According to Chawla, many fence sitters who waited in the first half of the year began purchasing gold ahead of the festive and wedding season, anticipating that prices would not decline further.

Global uncertainty also played a role in driving sentiment, he said, adding that cultural factors continue to underpin demand.

"So weddings, festivals and milestones mean that customers, in fact women, must be telling their husbands that all your share market is on one side. But see, we have always been the wiser ones and now you better listen to me when I have to tell you that you buy jewellery. It's an asset, not an expense," he said.

This anecdotal dynamic, Chawla suggested, is playing out in many households, with men becoming "a little sobered lot" as women assert jewellery's role as a secure investment.

He further noted that a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) also drove demand.

"So there was a FOMO. People jumped into it, saying a better buy now than regret later. And that went on, I think all the way into January," said Chawla.

However, he also cautioned against making predictions, pointing to volatility over the last two to three years.

"Sometimes you can not predict how a month will go. The first half may go very well, and the second half you will see a certain slowdown, and the other way around also," he said.

The company's approach, he explained, has been to maximise gains when demand is strong.

"When the going is good, when there is occasion to buy, whether it's a wedding or festival, we should go all out, make the most out of it because we don't know what will happen one month later or 15 days later," Chawla said.

He pointed out that gold prices remain connected to broader macroeconomic factors such as US Federal Reserve interest rates, bond yields and global liquidity.

"We cannot predict it, but... whatever we have heard from many investment advisors, many people who are in that financial sector, their view is that there is a secular need for central banks worldwide to de-risk and therefore they see gold as a structural play," Chawla said.

At the same time, he cautioned that volatility is "inevitable" as there will be some corrections from time to time as in any commodity pricing.

"There will be corrections, there will be ups and downs, there will be volatility. So I mean it, it can be risky, but if you are playing the long game, it may not matter," he added.

Asked about the December quarter, Chawla said it was "fantastic", and the growth was led by Titan's jewellery division, which reported a spike of 45.6 per cent in its revenue to Rs 23,492 crore.

Chawla said Titan chose not to compromise on inventory, retail investments or marketing during the festive and weeding season in the December quarter.

"In fact, we went overboard on marketing. We said this is the time to gain share. So we went very aggressive on marketing, both visibility, freshness, innovation, bringing in celebrities," Chawla said.

On the outlook for the jewellery division, he said its so far so good, but volatility is here to stay.

"One good month does not mean the next month will be very good. Now that gold prices are fluctuating as opposed to only showing an upward trend, we will wait and watch. So far, it's decent. It's good. I am not unhappy about it," he said.

Titan's jewellery division is the largest contributor to the company. In FY25, revenue from operations of Titan -- a JV between the Tata group and the Tamil Nadu government -- was at Rs 57,339 crore, in which its jewellery division contributed Rs 46,571 crore -- over 81 per cent.

Courtesy : ET