Titan Company shareholders have been on edge ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly urged Indians to delay jewellery purchases for a year in an effort to help stabilise the rapidly weakening rupee. Just when investors thought the worst may already have been priced in, the Centre raised import duties on gold and silver to 15% on Wednesday, triggering fresh panic across jewellery stocks.
The reaction was swift. Shares of Titan, India’s largest jewellery retailer, plunged more than 11% in just two trading sessions on Monday and Tuesday as fears mounted over the impact of higher import duties on demand, margins and overall consumer sentiment.
