Dhanteras: Gold fails to stage good show, down Rs 140

New Delhi: Gold plunged by Rs 140 to Rs 30,710 owing to a weak trend overseas even as the metal witnessed token buying by retailers and jewellers on auspicious ‘Dhanteras’. The yellow metal witnessed some token buying though failed to take off on Dhanteras, a day considered auspicious for buying gold, silver and other valuables and is largely celebrated in North and West India.

A weak trend overseas as the dollar strengthened against a basket of major currencies, eroding appeal of the metal as a safe haven, mainly led to the fall in gold prices. Earlier today, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched gold options trading on the leading commodity bourse MCX and said this is one of the steps towards formalising gold trade.

After the success of the gold options, MCX said it will approach the regulator Sebi seeking permission for other commodities like cotton, crude palm oil, silver and copper. Silver also recorded a fall of Rs 400 to Rs 41,000 per kg even as retailers made token buying in coins. Globally, gold fell 0.45 per cent to trade at USD 1,288.70 an ounce in Singapore, while silver shed 0.64 per cent to INR 1,094.14 an ounce.

In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs 140 each to Rs 30,710 and Rs 30,560 per ten gram, respectively. Sovereign however continued to be enquired at Rs 24,700 per piece of eight gram. Bullion traders said sales were higher by up to 20 per cent on a daily basis as people bought gold as an investment and sales are expected to pick up later in the day.

The government’s revocation of an order that mandated PAN and Aadhaar for purchases above Rs 50,000 also spurred retail buying but weak trend overseas weighed on the gold prices. In futures trading at the MCX, gold for delivery in December too was down by Rs 104, or 0.35 per cent at Rs 29,750 per ten gram. In tandem with the overall trend, silver ready also dropped by Rs 400 to Rs 41,000 per kg, while weekly-based delivery was down Rs 490 at Rs 39,990 per kg.

Silver coins remained unaltered at Rs 74,000 for buying and Rs 75,000 for selling of 100 pieces on some support. Meanwhile, gold prices have gone up marginally by Rs 120, or 0.39 per cent, while silver has dropped by Rs 1,700, or almost 4 per cent from last year’s Dhanteras.