Gold hits another record for third day; silver rates climb Rs 500

Gold prices advanced to yet another record high -- for the third straight day on Friday -- rising Rs 50 in the national capital on the back of continued buying by jewellers.

Continuing a firm momentum for the third straight session, gold prices rose Rs 50 to hit a fresh high of Rs 78,300 per 10 grams, according to the All India Sarafa Association.

On Thursday, the precious metal had finished at Rs 78,250 per 10 grams.

Silver also jumped Rs 500 to Rs 94,500 per kg on fresh offtake by industrial units and coin makers. The metal had closed at Rs 94,000 per kg in the previous trade.

Traders said increased buying by local jewellers to meet festive and wedding season demand and a firm trend in the overseas markets mainly lifted gold prices to this year's highest level.

Further, the US Federal Reserve's optimism that they will maintain an aggressive pace of interest rate cuts this year also boosted the bullion prices, they added.

Meanwhile, in the futures trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold contracts for October delivery, declined Rs 181, or 0.24 per cent, to Rs 75,206 per 10 grams.

Silver contracts for December delivery fell Rs 142, or 0.15 per cent, to trade at Rs 92,522 per kilogram on the bourses.

"Gold price, which touched a high on MCX October futures contract yesterday (Thursday), attracted some sellers on the last day of the week retreating further from the all-time peak," Maneesh Sharma, AVP - Commodities & Currencies, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, said.

The downtick was due to emergence of buying interest in dollar index, which tends to undermine demand for the commodity, Sharma added.

In the international markets, Comex gold is trading 0.29 per cent lower at USD 2,687.20 per ounce.

"Gold prices have pared some gains on profit booking, after better-than-expected US data lifted the US dollar yesterday and as traders trimmed some bets on bigger rate cuts at Fed's next meeting.

"However, the bullion is likely to remain supported by safe-haven demand, buying among ETF investors, etc. Data focus for the day will be the US PCE (personal consumption expenditure) inflation numbers and consumer sentiments," Pranav Mer, Vice President, EBG, Commodity & Currency Research at JM Financial Services Ltd, said.

In the Asian trading hours, silver also quoted 0.36 per cent lower at USD 32.23 per ounce globally.

"Demand from the world's top two consumers, China and India, is likely to improve after China's recent stimulus, while retail demand in India is expected to improve ahead of festival season, which also improved market sentiment and lifted the gold prices higher," Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst of Commodities at HDFC Securities, said.