Precious metal pullback continues: Mumbai gold Rs. 59,000 within

MUMBAI: Both precious metals softened domestically as global gold and silver traded lower on the first day of the week as a result of efforts by authorities to defuse the banking crisis. Crude oil prices were supported by rising crude oil imports from China. In the currency market, there was a mixed movement of the rupee against the major currencies

In the global market, gold fell by $25 per ounce to $1952, while silver also fell below $23 and was trading at $22.98 per ounce late in the evening. There is no purchase of gold above 2000 dollars in the world market.

At home in the Mumbai market, the price of gold without GST was Rs 99.90 per ten gram, falling within Rs 59,000 and closing at Rs 58,892. Gold lost Rs 761 from last week's official closing price on Friday. 99.50 was closed at Rs 58657. Silver also softened behind gold. The price of one kg of silver without GST was Rs 69369. Compared to the previous official close, silver fell by Rs 387.

In the Ahmedabad market, the price of 99.90 ten grams of gold was Rs 60,400 while that of 99.50 was priced at Rs 60,200. Silver was quoted at Rs 70,000 per kg. Silver saw a drop of Rs 500 in price compared to Saturday, while gold closed at Rs 600.

The dollar index rose modestly to 103.09 points. The announcement that First Citizens Bank will acquire Silicon Bank stabilized the dollar. However, the dollar fell by 12 paise against the rupee in the local currency market and closed at Rs 82.37. Pound fell by 4 paise to Rs 100.69 while Euro rose by 16 paise to Rs 88.62.

In crude oil, Nymax was 70.15 dollars per barrel while the price of Brent crude was 75.82 dollars. Crude oil prices were supported by reports of rising demand and imports from China.