Singapore: Purchases from gold jewellers in India stirred up physical trade in Asia, while a drop in bullion prices ignited demand from other consumers in the region and kept premiums steady, dealers said.

The wedding season was over in India, the world's largest gold consumer, but local jewellery makers were now busy taking orders from customers in Dubai, where jewellery sales are mainly derived from tourists visiting the emirate.

"The physical market is certainly far more active with the start of the New Year and demand is emerging in key demand centres," said Pradeep Unni, senior analyst and trader at Richcomm Global Services in Dubai.

"Sales of scrap are not high in the Gulf, and jewellery sales are buoyant largely due to an increase in tourist arrivals during the cold weather season in the region."

Tourists usually account for much of the gold sales in Dubai - a Muslim emirate popular with sun-seekkng Western tourists and expatriates.

Premiums for gold bars held around last week's levels of 60 to 70 US cents an ounce to the spot London prices in Singapore due to steady purchases from jewellers in India, Indonesia and Thailand.

India's wedding season will start again in April after reaching its peak last month. Gold jewellery is the most common gift during religious events in India and forms an essential part of the dowry basket.

"India supplies a lot of jewellery to Dubai. Physical demand from India has been quite good lately and Indonesia is buying again after being absent from the market for a while," said a dealer in Singapore.

"We see buying on a price dip and I would say trading is still in a range. At this point, we don't see much selling either," said the dealer, referring to limited sales of scraps in Asia.

Gold XAU= fell US$4.05 an ounce to US$1,138.10 ($1,586.83), down from a 5-week high of US$1,161.50 hit on Monday Jan 11. Bullion has bounced from a 7-week low of US$1,074.10 struck on Dec 22 and was about seven percent below a lifetime high of US$1,226.10 seen in early December.

"There seems to be bit of demand because the price has dropped from the highs around US$1,200 last year. But I think people are still bullish. That's why you don't see much selling," said a dealer in Hong Kong.

Premiums for gold bars inched up to 40 to 80 US cents an ounce in Hong Kong from 30 to 70 cents last week.

Weaker gold prices cut the discounts in Tokyo to 50 and 75 cents from as high as US$1, but there was hardly any improvement in demand from jewellers and investors.

"It's still dull in the investment sector but demand from the electronics side is quite steady," said a dealer in Tokyo.