Gold, silver trade lower; physical demand poor

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian gold and silver futures traded slightly lower on Monday, still consolidating in recent price ranges, with the physical market witnessing subdued demand in a seasonally slow period after a series of government measures to contain imports.

* At 3:56 p.m., the actively traded gold for August delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.32 percent lower at 27,790 rupees per 10 grams. It has moved in a range of 26,961-28,288 rupees since the start of the month.

* Silver for July delivery on the MCX was 0.53 percent lower at 43,601 rupees per kilogram.

* "Demand is poor at the moment as the rupee is weak... People had stocked so much in April and May," said Satish Bansal, managing director, MD Overseas, a gold importer in New Delhi.

* A weaker rupee makes the dollar-quoted yellow metal expensive. The rupee plays an important role in determining the landed cost of the dollar-quoted yellow metal.

* The festival and wedding season has ended and will re-start in August.

* Net gold imports into India, the world's biggest buyer of bullion, have fallen from an average of $135 million in the first half of May to $36 million in the second half of the month, the finance minister said.

* The government does not need to act as of now to further moderate gold imports as the recent steps have already had a considerable impact, a government official said recently.

(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)