Gold soars to new high on frantic buying

Silver also edged higher on stray industrial support.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) spurted by Rs 110 to conclude at Rs 29,155 per 10 gm from Friday's closing level of Rs 29,045.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) went up by a similar margin to end at Rs 29,290 per 10 gm as against Rs 29,180 previously.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) gained by Rs 15 per kg to settle at Rs 56,815 from Rs 56,800.

After a bull run in 2011, the yellow metal had been witnessing a range-bound trade on sustained profit-taking as well as rigidity in import duty structure.

The sudden spike was mainly attributed to highly fluctuating equity markets, as investors and speculators shift their funds to better avenues, traders said.

Moreover, marriage season demand also supported the uptrend, they said.

In New York, gold gained further on the back of sliding dollar and weakening US economic growth outlook amidst rising concerns about eurozone debt crisis.

Gold for June delivery advanced USD 4.30 to USD 1,664.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the NYMEX late yesterday.

May silver contracts added 14 cents to USD 31.35 an ounce. PTI EDM PAK RSY RAH