Asia Gold-India gold demand lags; China premiums rise ahead of Lunar New Year

* India's discount unchanged at $14 an ounce * Indian jewellers inactive due to weak investment demand- dealer * China premiums jump to $4.50-$10 per ounce this week * Lunar New Year a strong period for physical gold demand By Rajendra Jadhav and Daksh Grover Jan 3 (Reuters) - Gold discounts in India remained steady this week as elevated prices kept buyers away, while Chinese dealers charged higher premiums in anticipation of stronger demand ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year. 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, unchanged from last week. "Local gold prices have been rising more than global prices in the last few days due to the depreciation of the rupee to a record low. This has been dampening demand," said Ashok Jain, proprietor of Mumbai-based gold wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji. The Indian rupee depreciated to a record low this week, effectively making imports more expensive. Domestic gold prices MAUc1 rose to 77,947 rupees per 10 grams on Friday, after falling to 75,459 rupees last month. "Jewellers were not active in the market since investment demand is weak. Many consumers also avoid buying gold during Khar Mass period," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a private bullion importing bank. The Hindu month of Khar Mass is considered to be an inauspicious period to buy gold. In China, the world's top gold consumer, dealers quoted premiums of $4.50 to $10 per ounce above spot prices XAU= , up from the $2 to $5 range last week. XAU-CN-PREM "With Chinese New Year coming up, I expect demand to increase, especially for investment purposes," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals. While jewellery sales in the region are slowing according to sales figures reported by leading retailers, physical bullion demand is compensating reflecting good demand for investment over adornment, as per independent analyst Ross Norman. In Singapore, dealers were charging between par level to spot prices and $2.50 premium. "This week, amid the holiday season, we saw more festive buying as clients took advantage of lower gold prices," said Brian Lan, managing director at GoldSilver Central. International spot gold prices hit a one-week low earlier this week before climbing. GOL/ In Hong Kong, gold XAU-HK-PREM was sold at a premium of $0.20-$1.90, while in Japan, bullion was sold XAU-TK-PREM from $0.25 discounts to par level. (Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai and Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Swati Verma; Editing by Varun H K) (([email protected]))