Indian gold futures edge higher

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Gold futures edged higher on Friday evening, helped by a weaker rupee amid flat overseas markets.

At 1758 IST, the most-active gold contract for February delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.20 percent higher at 28,857 rupees per 10 grams.

Silver for March delivery on the MCX was 0.48 percent higher at 44,680 rupees per kg.

The rupee, which weakened in trade on Friday, plays an important role in determining the landed cost of the dollar-quoted yellow metal.

In the physical market, demand was lacklustre, even as jewellers struggled to get supplies in the peak wedding season.

"Import is going on, but in limited quantities... we imported a lot of 1.2 tonnes of gold this month," said a official with a state-run bullion importing trading firm in New Delhi.

Indian gold imports may fall 70 percent in the final quarter of 2013 from 255 tonnes in the year-ago period and are expected to be half the usual levels at 500-550 tonnes next year if new import rules are maintained, a top trade body official.

To curb a rising trade gap, the government slapped a record import duty of 10 percent, and tied imports for domestic consumption with exports.

(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Sunil Nair)