Gold price at Rs 45,370 per 10 gm, Silver trending at Rs 67,900 a kg

Gold price fell by Rs 50 to Rs 45,370 per 10 gm on Thursday, while Silver price inched up by Rs 1,300 to trend at Rs 67,900 per kg, according to the Good Returns website.

Gold jewellery price varies across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making changes.

In New Delhi, the price of 22-carat gold rose by Rs 350 to Rs 44,600 per 10 gm, while in Chennai it inched down by Rs 20 to Rs 42,640. In Mumbai, the rate fell to Rs 44,370 according to the website. The price of 24-carat gold in Chennai also decreased by Rs 20 to retail at Rs 46,520 per 10 gm. 

In the international market, Gold slid as much as 2 per cent to its lowest in nearly nine months on Wednesday as elevated US Treasury yields and a stronger dollar hammered the metal's appeal.

Spot gold was down 1.2 per cent at $1,718.09 per ounce by 11:56 a.m. ET (1656 GMT), after falling to its lowest since June 2020 at $1,701.40 earlier in the session.

US gold futures lost 0.9 per cent to $1,718.80.

"As real rates continue to rise, that's challenging gold. The rates markets are also adding pressure on valuations for all asset classes, and as a result, gold is a casualty," said TD Securities commodity strategist Daniel Ghali.

Benchmark US 10-year Treasury yields crept back towards a one-year peak reached last week, while the dollar rose.

Hopes of a quick economic rebound fuelled by a swift rollout of Covid-19 vaccines also prompted an outflow of safe-haven assets like gold from investors' portfolios.

Progress on the $1.9 trillion US stimulus bill has offered little respite, as higher yields have threatened gold's appeal as an inflation hedge by increasing the opportunity cost of holding bullion.

"The outlook for gold is tied really to whether or not we've reached that pivot point at the US Federal Reserve in terms of whether they would address the steepening of the yield curve. But we're still early in that process, so that has negative short-term implications on gold," Ghali said.

Fed officials have reiterated that US interest rates will remain low but citied a recent rise in real rates as a sign of growing optimism about an economic recovery.