Gold traders stay on sidelines

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Gold traders in India refrained from stocking up in a seasonally slack period in anticipation of price falls after the yellow metal recovered a tad from its lowest level in a week.

* Gold imports into India, the world's biggest buyer of the metal, fell about 81 percent in June from the previous month after the government raised import duty and stopped consignment imports.

* "People are waiting for prices below 26,000 rupees... We are getting supplies in a gap of two days," said Harshad Ajmera, the proprietor of wholesaler JJ Gold House.

* Most of the demand is met by star trading houses and state-run MMTC, STC and PEC as banks await guidelines on imports on cash basis from the central bank.

* At 2:18 p.m., the most-active gold for August delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.38 percent higher at 26,447 rupees per 10 gram, helped by a weaker rupee. The yellow metal recovered from its previous session's low of 26,240 rupees, a level last seen on July 11.

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

* Silver for September delivery was 0.03 percent lower at 40,140 rupees per kg on the MCX.

(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)