Gold falls for the fourth day; down Rs 40 on poor demand

Silver held steady at Rs 61,000 per kg on restricted buying from industrial units and coin makers.

Traders said poor demand due to ongoing 'Shradh', which is considered as an inauspicious period to buy new things as per Hindu mythology, mainly kept pressure on gold prices.

Weak trend in the global markets, where gold fell from 11-month high after the US unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to expand monetary stimulus, also influenced the sentiment, they said.

In New York, gold fell 0.9 per cent to USD 1,780.80 an ounce and silver by 1.5 per cent to USD 34.57 an ounce.

They said the silver prices held steady on restricted buying from industrial units and coin makers.

On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity slipped by Rs 40 each to Rs 31,480 and Rs 31,280 per 10 grams, respectively. The metal had lost Rs 230 in last three sessions.

Sovereign followed suit and shed Rs 50 to Rs 25,400 per piece of eight grams.

Silver ready held steady at Rs 61,000 per kg, while weekly-based delivery plunged by Rs 555 to Rs 61,795 per kg on lack of speculators support.

Silver coins continued to be asked around previous level of Rs 76,000 for buying and Rs 77,000 for selling of 100 pieces.