Falling for the fourth straight session, gold prices on Wednesday fell to its lowest level in 20-month by losing Rs90 on sustained selling by stockist against restricted buying.
After dropping Rs3,160 in last three sessions, gold fell further by Rs90 to Rs26,350 per ten grams, its lowest level since August 17, 2011.
Silver followed suit and surrendered Rs 425 to Rs45,700 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers. It had recorded a fall of Rs 6,475 in previous three sessions.
Both the precious metals remained in bear grip this week following a steep fall in prices in international markets on speculations of selling by struggling Cyprus central bank.
The dollar-denominated precious metals also fell on strengthening rupee against the US currency and government slashing tariff value of gold and silver, taking into account weak global trend.
On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell further by Rs 90 each to Rs 26,350 and Rs 26,150 per ten grams.
However, sovereign found some low level buying and recovered by Rs 200 to Rs 24,000 per piece of eight gram.
In line with a general weak trend, silver ready declined further by Rs 425 to Rs 45,700 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 690 to Rs 43,460 per kg.
Meanwhile, silver coins maintained steady trend at Rs 74,000 for buying and Rs 75,000 for selling of 100 pieces
Rupee off 1-1/2-mth high, ends 7 paise down vs dlr at 54.21
The rupee on Wednesday rose to one-and-a- half-month high of 53.77 but erased gains to close seven paise down at 54.21 against the dollar on weakness in domestic equities amid strong dollar overseas.
The dollar demand from importers also weighed on the rupee, while fresh capital inflows restricted the fall to some extent, a forex dealer said.
The rupee resumed remarkably higher at 53.93 a dollar from previous close of 54.14 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and touched a high of 53.77, level not seen since February 28, 2013, when it had logged a high of 53.60.
later, it met with strong resistance on weakness in local equities and dropped to a low of 54.22 before settling at 54.21, showing a fall of seven paise or 0.13 per cent. Yesterday, it had spurted by 48 paise or 0.89 per cent.
The Indian benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today closed down by 13.77 points or 0.07 per cent on steep fall in heavyweight RIl while FIIs pumped in Rs 591.76 crore yesterday, as per provisional data with stock exchanges.
The dollar index was up by a whopping 0.48 per cent against a basket of six major global currencies.
Pramit Brahmbhatt, CEO, Alpari Financial Services (India) said: “Rupee traded volatile today, in the first session it traded strong against the dollar and had a gap up opening taking cues from the local equities which opened positively but during the day it lost its way and managed to close near yesterday’s close.
“But as the day progressed Rupee depreciated taking cues from the strong dollar. Support for USDINR (Spot) pair is at 53.80 below which we can see further downfall; the trading range for the same is expected to be within 53.80-54.40.
Sensex snaps two-day uptrend, ends 14 pts lower as RIl slides
Hit by selling in second half of trade, the Sensex on Wednesday fell for the first time in three days and closed 13.77 points lower at 18,731.16 dragged down by losses in Reliance Industries, HDFC and TCS shares amid weakness in European markets.
After yesterday's 387-point surge, the index opened stable today and gained nearly 125 points to touch day's high of 18,869.88. However, over 3.7 per cent losses in RIl weighed on sentiment as investors appeared disappointed with its results.
TCS fell nearly 1.8 per cent ahead of its Q4 earnings. Infosys and Wipro also fell. HDFC and HDFC Bank closed lower.
The 30-share Sensex finally closed with a 13.77-point loss, or 0.07 per cent, at 18,731.16, snapping over 500-point rise in the past two days.
Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty eased by 0.25 points to end at 5,688.70.
Sectorally, metal, FMCG,auto, healthcare and banking saw buying while oil&gas and IT stocks were big laggards in trade.
“Markets opened on a positive note following strong rally yesterday but encountered selling pressure in the second half. RIl was seen down due to profit-booking post Q4 results. TCS will also be releasing its results later and its impact will be seen tomorrow,” said Nidhi Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.