Gold prices end steady, silver slumps

Gold prices ended stable after two days of modest pullback at the domestic bullion market here today as traders and jewellers preferred to stay on the sidelines and watch development in global markets.
On the other hand, silver dropped sharply and fell below the Rs 46,000 per kg mark following heavy speculative sell-off amidst bearish overseas trend.
Standard gold of 99.5 per cent purity and pure gold of 99.9 per cent purity both finished unaltered at their overnight closing level of Rs 26,260 and Rs 26,395 per 10 gm, respectively.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) plunged by Rs 460 to end at Rs 45,665 per kg from Friday's closing level of Rs 46,125.

On the global front, gold moved higher for the second straight session on some bargain buying as well as technical support.
Gold for June delivery gained USD 3.10 to settle at USD 1,395.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX late yesterday.
May silver contract, however, declined 29 cents to settle at USD 22.96 an ounce.