Gold firms up further on good demand, silver slips

Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI) Gold prices firmed up further on the bullion market here due to renewed local as well as stockists demand amidst higher overseas advices.

However, silver declined in the absence of demand from industrial users.

The bullion market resumed trading after two days holiday owing to 'Diwali' festival.

Persistent gold buying by the consumers in view of marriage season also attributed to rise in prices, traders said.

In New York, gold finished slightly higher after a volatile session, as the dollar hovered near 14-month lows.

Gold for December delivery rose 50 cents to end at $1,058.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the Mercantile Exchange. It hit an high of $1,066.20 an ounce in early trade.

December silver fell by 6 cents to $17.56 an ounce.

In the local market, standard gold (99.5 purity) rose by Rs 30 per ten grams to finish at Rs 15,920 from last Saturday's closing level of Rs 15,890.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) also firmed up by Rs 55 per ten grams to end at Rs 16,000 from Rs 15,945.

However, silver ready (.999 fineness) dropped by Rs 190 per kilo to Rs 27,440 from Rs 27,630 previously.