Gold continues northward march on rising demand, silver slips

Gold prices extended gains for the fifth straight session at the bullion market here today on sustained demand from jewellery stockists amid robust seasonal off-take, ignoring weak global cues.
In contrast, industrial metal silver dropped due to heavy speculative unwinding.
Standard gold of 99.5 per cent purity hardened by Rs 55 to finish at Rs 31,840 per 10 grams from Thursday's closing level of Rs 31,785.
Pure gold of 99.9 per cent purity also added a similar margin to settle at Rs 31,990 per 10 grams as compared to Rs 31,935.
Silver ready (.999 fineness), however, dropped by Rs 450 to conclude at Rs 50,180 per kg from overnight closing level of Rs 50,630.

Meanwhile, the yellow metal retreated from a one-month high in overseas trade following profit-taking amid caution ahead of key US macroeconomic data.
Spot gold was bid lower at USD 1,342.29 an ounce in early European trade and spot silver was weak at USD 22.43 an ounce.