Gold loses sheen during the week, cracks below Rs 31,000-mark

Mumbai: Tracking a weak trend overseas and easing demand from local jewellers, gold lost its sheen during the week and cracked below Rs 31,000-mark and recorded a fall of Rs 385 in its prices to close at Rs 30,820 per ten grams at the bullion market during the week.

Traders said apart from a weak trend overseas, fading demand from local jewellers and retailers at the domestic markets, mainly attributed the fall in gold prices.

Elsewhere, silver also witnessed sustained selling by stockists and investors coupled with lack of demand from industrial users, closed below the significant Rs 40,000 mark.

In worldwide trade, gold settled back below USD 1,300 an ounce on Friday, as upbeat monthly US employment data buoyed the dollar and suggested that the Federal Reserve remains on track to raise interest rates later this month and later this year.

August gold lost USD 5.40, or 0.4 per cent, to settle at USD 1,299.30 an ounce, with the contract posting its lowest finish since May 23 and logging a loss of about 0.7 per cent for the week.

It had finished roughly 1.6 per cent lower for the month of May. In other metals trading, July silver fell 0.1 per cent to USD 16.441 an ounce, with the contract ending about 0.6 per cent lower for the week.