Gold down on profit selling, silver also tumbles

Gold prices moved downwards at the bullion market in Mumbai on Tuesday on hectic profit selling by stockists and traders amidst bearish trend in overseas markets.

Silver, which hit an all-time new peak on Monday, also tumbled due to heavy offerings by stockists coupled with speculative sell-off.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) dropped by Rs 125 per ten grams to close at Rs 18,770 from Monday's closing level of Rs 18,895. Pure gold (99.9 purity) also slipped by a similar margin to conclude at Rs 18,860 as against Rs 18,985 previously.

In New York, gold futures declined more than one per cent yesterday as the dollar strengthened against other major currencies and stocks recovered. Gold for August delivery lost USD 17.60, or 1.4 per cent, to USD 1,238.60 an ounce on the COMEX division of NYMEX.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) plunged by Rs 350 per kilo to end at Rs 30,035 as against Rs 30,385. July silver also shed 43 cents, or 2.3 per cent, to finish at USD 18.67 an ounce.