Could Indian housewives be calling the top of the gold market? Many are selling unwanted jewellery into a surging recycling market and deferring all but essential purchases of the precious metal, commodity traders, economists and jewellers said yesterday.

India is the world's largest consumer of the precious metal and the apparent sell-signal from its value-savvy householders may prove unsettling for global investors hoping that gold will continue to be a safe haven in volatile markets.