Gold, silver extend fall on slack demand

Gold prices extended losses at the domestic bullion market here today on sustained selling by traders and investors amidst mute local buying interest at the existing levels, despite higher global cues.
Silver also dropped on speculative sell-off following reduced industrial demand.
Standard gold of 99.5 per cent purity slid by Rs 90 to end at Rs 26,640 per 10 gm from Monday's closing level of Rs 26,730.
Pure gold of 99.9 per cent purity also dipped by Rs 85 to finish at Rs 26,780 per 10 gm from Rs 26,865.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) slumped by Rs 320 to conclude at Rs 41,670 per kg as against Rs 41,990 yesterday.

In overseas market, Gold moved up in early trade on lower dollar ahead of the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony later in the week, which investors expect could provide clues on the timing of the central bank's tapering of monetary stimulus.
In London, spot gold bid higher at USD 1,285.66 an ounce in early trade and silver also bid up at USD 19.85 an ounce.