Gold falls below Rs 27,000 mark on consistent selling

Gold prices plunged below the Rs 27,000 per 10 grams level at the bullion market here today on consistent selling from stockists in the wake of extremely bearish global sentiment.

Silver also dropped sharply following heavy unwinding by speculators as well as subdued jewellery demand.

Standard gold of 99.5 per cent purity shed Rs 245 to conclude at Rs 26,905 per 10 gms from Tuesday's closing level of Rs 27,150.

Pure gold of 99.9 per cent purity also lost by a similar margin to end at Rs 27,040 per 10 gm from Rs 27,285.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) tanked by Rs 785 to end at Rs 45,540 per kg compared to Rs 46,325 previously.

Globally, gold witnessed heavy sell-off, logging its biggest one-day slide since the metal's recent historic meltdown last month, on concerns over manufacturing growth data from America and China, world's top two economies, indicating a slowdown amid growing uncertainty on US Fed's bond-buying stimulus programme.

Gold for June delivery declined USD 25.90 to settle at USD 1,446.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX late yesterday. Silver July contract also slipped to settle at USD 23.34 an ounce.