Mixed finish for bullions

Gold ends little higher while silver ends little lower

Bullion metal prices ended mixed on Monday, 11 March 2013. While gold ended marginally higher, silver ended marginally lower. Gold also rose after the dollar pared some of its gains.

Gold for April delivery ended higher by $1.1 or 0.1% at $1,578 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. It traded high as $1,582.5 and as low as $1,574.5 during intra day trading.

March silver ended lower by 10 cents (0.3%) at $28.85 an ounce on Monday.

In overnight news, Italian bond yields rose after the Fitch ratings agency late Friday downgraded the country's credit rating. That news helped to pressure European stock markets Monday and may have prompted some scant fresh safe-haven demand for gold. However, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a report that said the European Union will see improving economic conditions in the coming months. However, the OECD projected weaker economic growth in China, Canada and India in the coming months.

Meantime, fresh economic data from China was downbeat, as weekend figures showed the inflation rate rose to 3.2% in February from 2.0% in January, on an annualized basis. That prompted worries Chinese monetary officials could move to tighten monetary policy. Industrial production and retail sales data for China were also weaker than expected. The China data can be read as a mixed bag for gold and silver.

The dollar index, which weighs the strength of the dollar against a basket of six other currencies fell by 0.3% on Monday.

At the MCX, gold prices for April delivery closed lower by Rs 24 (0.08%) at Rs 29,321 per ten grams. Prices rose to a high of Rs 29,450 per 10 grams and fell to a low of Rs 29,300 per 10 grams during the day's trading.

At the MCX, silver prices for May delivery closed lower by Rs 262 (0.5%) at Rs 54,593/Kg. Prices opened at Rs 54,980/kg and fell to a low of Rs 54,437/Kg during the day's trading.

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