Gold flat; silver weakens further

Gold prices ruled steady in a largely quiet trade at the bullion market here today on muted offtake by jewellers and investors even as the metal weakened overseas.
Silver, however, remained under selling pressure and lost Rs 180 at Rs 39,365 per kg.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) closed at its overnight level of Rs 29,520 per 10 grams.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also settled at its previous level of Rs 29,670 per 10 grams.
Silver (.999 fineness) slumped by Rs 180 to conclude at Rs 39,365 as compared to Rs 39,545 previously.
Globally, gold prices drifted in a narrow range, but held near the previous session's low, pressured by a firmer dollar and expectations of a series of interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve this year and in 2018.

Spot gold was nearly unchanged at USD 1,276.61 per ounce at early trade.
In other precious metals, silver edged up 0.1 per cent to USD 16.91 per ounce.