Gold softens on muted demand, silver goes below Rs 43k

Gold prices eased by Rs 25 per 10 grams today owing to slackened demand from investors and stockists.
While, silver snapped its four-day gains owing to lacklustre industrial offtake.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) eased by Rs 25 to close at Rs 29,400 per 10 grams from Monday's level of Rs 29,425.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also moved down by a similar margin to finish at Rs 29,550 per 10 grams as against Rs 29,575 earlier.
However, silver (.999 fineness) fell by Rs 320 to close at Rs 42,850 per kg as compared to Rs 43,170 earlier.
Globally, gold held steady after touching five-month highs in the previous session, bolstered by the dollar softening versus the yen, North Korea tensions and the French presidential election.

Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent at USD 1,285.55 per ounce at early trade, after climbing to USD 1,295.42 in the prior session, its highest since November 9.
Spot silver edged down 0.1 percent to USD 18.38 per ounce, after hitting over a five-month high of USD 18.649 in the prior session.