Asia Gold-Discounts widen to three-month high in India; China flips to premium

* Footfall at stores very low this week - Indian jeweller * India sees discount of up to $14/oz vs $8 last week * China flips to premiums ranging $2-$5/oz this week * Lunar New Year a strong period for physical gold demand By Rajendra Jadhav and Daksh Grover Dec 27 (Reuters) - Gold discounts in India widened to a nearly three-month high this week as rising prices dampened demand, while China shifted to premium as consumers began stocking up for the upcoming Lunar New Year celebrations. Indian dealers offered a discount XAU-IN-PREM of up to $14 an ounce over official domestic prices, inclusive of 6% import and 3% sales levies, up from last week's discount of up to $8. "Retail demand is quite subdued. Many end-consumers are in a vacation mood and are travelling to tourist destinations. Footfall at jewellery stores was very low this week," said a New Delhi-based jeweller. Prices MAUc1 in India rose to 77,143 rupees per 10 grams on Friday, after falling to 75,459 rupees last week. Jewellers refrained from buying this week as rising global gold prices, combined with the rupee's depreciation to a record low, significantly increased acquisition costs for Indian buyers, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a private bullion importing bank. GOL/ India's gold imports are expected to drop sharply in December on rising prices and in the absence of any major festivals, trade and government officials said. Meanwhile, top consumer China flipped to a small premium for the first time in more than a month. Chinese dealers charged premiums of $2-$5 an ounce over global benchmark spot prices, compared to last week's $5 discount. XAU-CN-PREM . "We're approaching year-end and next month is the Chinese New Year. This is traditionally a strong period for physical gold demand," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals. "We can see that China has already started importing gold." In Hong Kong, gold was sold at a premium of $0.2-$1.90, while dealers in Singapore charged premiums ranging from par to $2.50. There was some Christmas buying in smaller bars, but overall demand remained modest, said Brian Lan, managing director at GoldSilver Central. In Japan, bullion was sold XAU-TK-PREM at par to $1 premium. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai and Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Swati Verma; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar) (([email protected]))