Gold price today: Rs 52,465 per 10 gram, silver price at Rs 62,730 per kg

Gold price on Wednesday dipped Rs 69 to trade at Rs 52,465 per 10 gram while prices of silver fell over Rs 2,500 to settle at Rs 62,730 per kg, according to Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association.
Both gold and silver have witnessed decline after seven days of gain, according to HDFC Securities.

Gold jewellery prices vary across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.
In New Delhi, the price of 22-carat gold rose to Rs 51,250 per 10 gram. Gold in 24 carat in the national capital was retailing at Rs 52,450. In Chennai 22-carat climbed steadily to Rs 50,370 while the price of 24-carat gold price in Chennai was at Rs 54,940. In Mumbai, the rate was Rs 50,760 for 22 carat gold, according to the Good Returns website.
On MCX, August gold futures climbed over 1% to Rs 52,649 per 10 gram while silver September futures slipped 0.41% to Rs 65,260 per kg.
MCX has decided to accept gold and silver bars refined at domestic refineries for deliveries, subject to final regulatory approval.
MCX received the approval of Sebi for the launch of Gold Mini options with Gold Mini (100 grams) bar as underlying, MCX said in a statement.
In the international market, gold gained on Tuesday ahead of a US Federal Reserve policy meeting which is expected to provide more monetary stimulus to support the coronavirus-hit economy, though bullion pulled back from an all-time high reached earlier.
As of 11:10 a.m EDT (1510 GMT), spot gold was up by 0.3% at $1,947.51 per ounce, while U. S. gold futures rose 0.93 % to $1,949.00 per ounce.
ALSO READ: Gold prices decline after 7 days of back-to-back gains; silver falls 9%
Gold surged to a record high of $1,980.57 an ounce earlier in the session, but prices have retreated as much as 3.7% since then as investors booked profits and the dollar bounced back.
"When you get a strong momentum coming in, you get a lot of speculators who are looking to turn a quick profit," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U. S. Global Investors.
"Nothing has changed fundamentally at all, the deficits and lower interest rates stoking inflation are still going to be here, so there is no reason not to own gold really."
Investors now eye the two-day Fed meeting beginning Tuesday, where it is widely expected to reiterate its accommodative policy stance.
The Fed announced extension of several of its lending facilities through the year-end.
Rising Covid-19 infections, simmering China-US tensions, massive stimulus and a low interest rate environment to aid pandemic-hit economies has helped gold rally 28% so far this year.
Gold prices are expected to rise to $2,300 per troy ounce over the next 12-month horizon, Goldman Sachs said, as concerns around the longevity of the US dollar as a reserve currency have started to emerge.
"We have long maintained gold is the currency of last resort, particularly in an environment like the current one where governments are debasing their fiat currencies and pushing real interest rates to all-time lows," Goldman said.

Gold prices at new all-time high, entering years-long bull run: Analysts

Gold hit an all-time high on Monday as ties between China and the United States rattled investors, boosting the allure of safe haven assets. The metal was trading at $1,933 per ounce in the international market and in India it was above Rs 50,000 per 10 gram.
A gold market cycle usually last 8-10 years, indicating that a bull run is underway. The last rally started in 2001 and ended in 2011, when prices went up sent times from the 2001 level. After peaking, prices fell 46 per cent and consolidated for years.

“Gold has entered a bullish phase that can last several years. We also think that there is better than 50% probability of gold approaching $3,000 in this cycle,” said US-based analyst Nigam Arora, author of the popular The Arora Report, a newsletter service on investments.
Christopher Wood, global head of equity strategy at Jefferies, last week said in a report that gold could rise to $4,000.
Imports, in US dollars, decide gold price in India. The dollar may weaken due to Federal Reserve policies and the U.S government’s government, giving gold tailwind. Real interest rates are negative, helping gold.
“In the short term, gold is ‘very’ overbought and there is resistance in the zone of $1,900 to $1,917. If this resistance is broken, the psychological number of $2,000 will act like a magnet for traders. However since gold is technically overbought, it is vulnerable to a sharp correction. In our view, a sharp correction, if it occurs, should be bought,” said Arora.
The risk in gold investments is interest rates rising on the hope of the world getting a vaccine against the coronavirus disease and global economic growth picking up. “It is important to stay nimble and alert to new data,” he said.
ALSO READ: Selling gold to raise cash? Know how to sell and the tax implications

Gold is worth investing, based on analysts’ outlook for the next four months. “Till the US elections are over this uptrend is expected to continue. By October-November, we expect gold to test $2,350 and silver to test $29.70 by the same time. In the Indian markets gold can touch (Rs) 60,000 by Diwali and silver around 72,000 levels,” said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, the CEO of Commtrendz Risk Management Services.
Indian jewellers said demand is weak and demand has moved to paper gold. In rural India, there is some traction due to agriculture income improving.
“The price of gold has constantly shown a skyward movement in its price and has emerged as a preferred investment option for Indians. Younger consumers, are now looking at making long term and systematic investments in gold,” said T S Kalyanaraman, Chairman and Managing Director of Kalyan Jewellers.
"From spending on leisure activities and gadgets, they have shifted their focus to assets that drive both desirability as well as incremental value. We are therefore expecting demand for gold jewellery to come from this set of new-age consumers,” said Kalyanaraman.
Silver is catching up with gold. In India, silver is already above Rs 60,000 per kilo and it is just 25 per cent away from all-time high seen in 2011.

Investors bullish on gold amid strong fundamentals, weak global economy

Gold price is likely to gain at least 12 per cent this calendar year on intermittent demand from institutional investors and safe haven buying from retail consumers, especially in the US where presidential elections are due in November.
Trading currently at Rs 48,041 per 10g after hitting a record high of Rs 48,380 per 10g on June 24, gold price in India is forecast to set a new record of Rs 54,000 per 10g in Indian markets by the end of this calendar year. The upsurge in the rupee value of gold would follow similar a move in its prices in global markets.
Gold has proved to be a safe bet against a slowing global economy due to the increasing number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and geopolitical tensions with China. Gold has proved to be the only asset class in these uncertain times to offer 23 per cent returns in the first half of calendar 2020 and a staggering 41.6 per cent in the last one year. Since its level of Rs 27,840 per 10g in January 2017, gold investors have become richer by 72.6 per cent.
“Fundamentals are currently in favour of gold prices. The Donald Trump administration in the US would try to capture citizen’s eyeballs with lots of luring pictures to revive the country’s economy which has been severely hit because of Covid-19 pandemic. The US financial markets might see fresh announcements to bring the economy back on track which may keep the dollar under pressure and support gold. Apart from that geopolitical tensions between China and the rest of the world also favour gold to hedge against economic downturn. Thus, we see gold prices touching Rs 54,000 per 10g with sharp volatility by the end of calendar 2020,” said Padmanabhan, managing director, NAC Jewellers, a Chennai based jewellery retailer.
Among other fundamentals, rising unemployment rates across the world is a major cause of worry. Despite falling imports into India and China, gold prices are moving up due to high investment and consumer demand in the US. A Metal Focus report suggests gold supply to remain lower by 5 per cent this year. Metal Focus, a London headquartered research firm, said gold price for 2020 would average $1700 per ounce against the first half average price of $ 1661.
ALSO READ: Non-life insurers to offer standard Covid covers to consumers from July 10
In international markets, gold prices reported a gain of 16.7 per cent in the first half of calendar 2020. Gold price in the London spot market is currently quoting at $1771.3 an oz, a rise of phenomenal 47.6 per cent since October 2018 and 25.7 per cent in one year.
The jump in gold prices in the rupee value was sharper than in dollar prices due to the 8.6 per cent depreciation in the Indian currency during the last one year. On Friday, the rupee closed at 75.6 against a dollar compared to 69.2 against a dollar, a year ago.

chart
Meanwhile, in a major worry for the global economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast the world and Indian economy to contract by 4.9 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively, in calendar 2020 due to the lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. This has taken a toll on crude oil prices, which have contracted by 40 per cent since January this year.
Prithviraj Kothari, managing director, RiddiSiddhi Bullion, one of India’s largest bullion dealers, said, “Gold pries would remain highly volatile in the next six months as mining companies would start increasing supply to take advantage of high prices and hedging in the world markets to ensure returns.” He is, however, fundamentally bullish on gold.
Kothari suggests that consumers buy gold at any price available as the yellow metal is the only source with earn high long-term returns.
“Gold prices kept a firm trading range despite a rally in equity indices. The worries over record virus cases in the US and other parts of the world have kept risk premium high in gold prices. The US Federal Reserve’s new capital rules will put a cap on bank dividend payments as well as halting share repurchases until the end of the year, which also supported gold prices to trade firm,” said Tapan Patel, senior analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities.
Silver prices also moved in positive territory and offered 28 per cent returns in one year. Silver prices are likely to move in tandem with gold in the future.

Gold imports plunge 9% to $24.64 billion during April-January: Govt data

Goldimports, which have a bearing on the country's current account deficit (CAD), fell about 9 per cent to $24.64 billion (about Rs 1.74 lakh crore) during April-January period of the current financial year, according to Commerce Ministry data.
Imports of the yellow metal stood at USD 27 billion in the corresponding period of 2018-19.

The decline in gold imports has helped in narrowing the country's trade deficit to $133.27 billion during April-January period of the current fiscal as against $163.27 billion a year ago.
Gold imports have been recording a negative growth since July last year. However, it recorded a positive growth in October and November last year, only to contract by about 4 per cent in December and 31.5 per cent in January this year.
India is the largest importer of gold, which mainly caters to the demand of jewellery industry.
In volume terms, the country imports 800-900 tonnes of gold annually.
To mitigate the negative impact of gold imports on trade deficit and CAD, the government increased the import duty on the metal to 12.5 per cent from 10 per cent.
Industry experts claim that businesses in the sector are shifting their manufacturing bases to neighbouring countries due to the high duty.
Gems and jewellery exporters had asked for a reduction in import duty to 4 per cent.
Gems and jewellery exports declined 1.45 per cent to $25.11 billion in April-January this fiscal.
The country's gold imports dipped about 3 per cent in value terms to $32.8 billion in 2018-19.
The CAD narrowed to 0.9 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) or $6.3 billion in July-September 2019 from 2.9 per cent of GDP or $19 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to the Reserve Bank's data.
Imports of rough diamonds contracted 15.54 per cent to about $11 billion during April-January 2019-20, according to the data of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.
However, import of gold bars grew 3.56 per cent to $6.6 billion during the period.

India's gold demand expected to rebound from 3 year low: World Gold Council

India's gold demand is expected to rebound in 2020 as the government seeks to bolster consumer confidence and spending power to revive Asia's third-biggest economy, the World GoldCouncil (WGC) said on Thursday.
A rise in consumption by the world's second-biggest gold buyer would further boost global prices, which scaled a near seven-year high earlier this month, but could widen India's trade deficit and pressure the rupee.

Gold consumption in 2020 will likely be 700-800 tonnes, compared with 690.4 tonnes last year, said Somasundaram PR, the managing director of WGC's Indian operations.
But government measures aimed at bringing transparency in bullion trading are likely to keep demand below the 10-year average of 843 tonnes, he said.
"We believe reforms that are going to be announced in the budget are likely to put more money in the hands of people. It will drive up consumption," Somasundaram said.
"Overall, as the economy improves it will have a rub-off effect on the jewellery industry."
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who will present the annual budget to parliament on Saturday, is widely expected to cut some personal tax in the 2020/2021 budget, to spur consumer demand and investment.
As Indian gold prices jumped 25% in 2019, hitting a record high, consumption fell 9% from the previous year to 690.4 tonnes, the lowest since 2016, the WGC said in a report published on Thursday.
Gold buying in the key December quarter dropped 18% from a year earlier to an eight-year low of 194.3 tonnes.
Demand usually jumps in December quarters due to the wedding season and as Indians celebrate festivals such as Diwali, when buying bullion is considered auspicious.
The country's scrap supplies in 2019 jumped 37% to 119.5 tonnes, helping New Delhi to bring down net bullion imports by 14% to 646.8 tonnes, the WGC said.
New Delhi's move to increase import tax on gold to 12.5% from 10% in July lifted smuggling in India.
Around 115-120 tonnes of gold were smuggled into the country in 2019, up from 90-95 tonnes a year earlier, Somasundaram said.
"Unless import duty comes to a reasonable level no amount of reform is going to work," he said.
India has been trying to bring transparency in bullion trading by curbing cash transactions and making hallmarking of jewellery and artefacts mandatory.

Gold jumps Rs 191 to Rs 39,239 per 10 gram on positive global trends

Goldprices on Tuesday jumped Rs 191 to Rs 39,239 per 10 gram in the national capital following rally in global prices, according to HDFC Securities.
Silver also zoomed Rs 943 to Rs 47,146 per kg compared to the previous close of Rs 46,203 per kg.

Gold had on Monday closed at Rs 39,048 per 10 gram.
"Spot gold for 24 karat in Delhi witnessed pre-Christmas rally by rallying up by Rs 191 on festival demand along with rally in global prices," HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said.
In the international market, gold prices traded with gains at $1,491 per ounce and silver at $17.60 per ounce.
"Global investors have opted for safer option to park their funds ahead of Christmas and New Year holidays eyeing economic and political uncertainties," he added.

Samvat 2075: Gold and silver give returns of 21% each, outperform equities

Gold and silver have proved to be the most rewarding for investors in the just-concluded Samvat 2075. After three years, the two precious metals have out-performed equities with returns of over 21 per cent each. The performance of the equity market was yet again divergent, with the large-cap-focused Nifty index gaining 10 per cent and the mid-cap and small-cap indices dropping 6.4 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively.
For the equity investor, Samvat 2075 was a choppy ride. The benchmark indices gained as much as 16 per cent and climbed to all-time highs immediately after the re-election of the Narendra Modi government. However, sluggish economic and corporate earnings growth, rising instances of corporate defaults, and a turmoil in the financial sector took the wind out of its sails.

The markets came off by 10 per cent between June and September. The Centre’s decision to lower the corporate tax rates, however, boosted market sentiment, with most stocks bouncing back sharply from their September levels. Most market players are expecting modest returns in Samvat 2076. They say economic recovery could be a prolonged one. Gold, meanwhile, could continue to shine till the time there is turbulence in the equity world.
graph

India's June gold imports rise 12.6% YoY as global prices jump: Reports

India's gold imports rose 12.6% in June from a year earlier to $2.69 billion amid a jump in global prices to six-year highs, a government source said on Tuesday.
However, imports were 44% lower in June from May's $4.78 billion, the source said, who was not allowed to speak to the media.

In India, local prices jumped to a record high in June, moderating demand from retail consumers.
The drop in gold imports by India, the world's second-biggest consumer of the precious metal, could weigh on global prices that are struggling to hold recent gains.

Gold declines by Rs 160, silver by Rs 625 as demand from jewellers slumps

Gold prices on Friday declined by Rs 160 to Rs 33,170 per 10 gram in the national capital due to tepid demand from jewellers amid weak global trends, according to the All India Sarafa Association.
Similarly, silver also slumped by Rs 625 to Rs 37,625 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.
Traders said the sentiment remained bearish on the back of a weak trend overseas, while easing demand from local jewellers also weighed on bullion prices.
Globally, spot gold was trading lower at $1,286.50 an ounce, while silver was down at $14.58 an ounce in New York.
In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity dropped by Rs 160 each to Rs 33,170 and Rs 33,000 per 10 gram, respectively.
Sovereign gold, however, held steady at Rs 26,500 per eight gram.
Meanwhile, silver ready dropped by Rs 625 to Rs 37,625 per kg, while weekly-based delivery plunged Rs 702 to Rs 36,822 per kg.
On the other hand, silver coins held flat at Rs 80,000 for buying and Rs 81,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

Gold rally hits speed bump as US payrolls data registers 'monster' growth

Gold’s recent surge may have hit a speed bump.
Bullion posted its first loss of 2019 on Friday and the biggest in two weeks as stronger-than-expected US payrolls data crimped demand for the metal as a haven. The decline eroded gold’s weekly gain, which was the third straight.

The slide comes after bullion rose above $1,300 an ounce earlier for the first time since June as investors piled into the metal amid a slump in equities, a U.S. government shutdown and mounting concerns over the outlook for global economic growth. Haven demand for bullion was also curbed Friday by the prospect of a thaw in US-China trade tensions.

The payrolls figures was a “monster number,” said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO Capital Markets.
Gold futures for February delivery fell 0.7 per cent to settle at $1,285.80 an ounce at 1:30 p.m. on the Comex in New York, the biggest decline since Dec. 21. The metal rose 0.2 per cent for the week.
With signs of a global slowdown stacking up amid the U.S.-China trade war and softening factory activity, analysts said it’s to soon to write off gold’s rally. Gold pared losses of as much as 1.3 per cent after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the policy is flexible and that officials are “listening carefully” to the financial markets, potentially laying the groundwork for a pause in the Fed’s campaign of gradual interest-rate hikes.
‘‘Overall, the data is still somewhat mixed,’’ Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets U.K. Ltd., said in an email.

Why big players piling into Indian retail may be in for a rude surprise

Apparently, there’s a pot of gold in Indian retail, and big players from around the world want to dip in. Many of them are likely to come up empty-handed.
The volume of high-profile announcements in the sector recently has been remarkable. Walmart Inc. led with a $16 billion deal to buy Flipkart Online Services Pvt. Ltd., India’s largest e-commerce retailer; China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. will retain its holdings in Flipkart as well. After pouring billions into India to compete with Flipkart, Amazon now says it hopes to pick up a substantial stake in Future Group, which runs over 1,000 brick-and-mortar stores across the country. Google is interested in Future Group too, as is the shopping arm of Indian payments company Paytm, which is funded by Softbank Group Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is also betting on Paytm, whose fortunes will depend greatly on whether e-commerce takes off in India, paying over $300 million for 3 to 4 per cent of the company.

Sure, there are a lot of Indians and they’re getting richer; Indian retail is a growing industry. But the current wave of enthusiasm looks excessive. Consider the excitement surrounding Paytm. The company is only in retail as an afterthought. It’s really a digital payments company that depends on a “wallet,” which you fill up from your bank account or your credit card. After spending hard on promotions and incentives, the company accounts for 22 percent of the volume of banking transactions in India — but still only 0.25 per cent of the value.
The company — which opposition parties in India accuse of cozy ties with the current government — has expanded on the back of favourable regulatory and policy decisions. The initial boost came from a 2014 central bank decision to kill “one-click” credit card transactions, which forced apps like Uber to switch to using wallets. Then it benefited hugely from the government’s decision to invalidate high-denomination notes, which made Indians worry about using cash. Now it hopes to profit from the government’s attempt to force consumers and companies to store data locally, by setting up cloud infrastructure locally.
Where online shopping fits into this is unclear, unless the company is looking to diversify, worried that its products won’t be able to compete over the long run against the kind of cutting-edge mobile payment systems pioneered by China’s Tencent. It’s rare to meet anyone who’s actually bought anything on Paytm Mall: Flipkart and Amazon still have 80 per cent of the market, and Paytm Mall’s Chinese-style direct linking of customers to offline retailers has caused consistent quality issues that force it to regularly delist sellers. It’s interesting that Berkshire Hathaway was quick to insist that Buffett himself had nothing to do with its investment.
Amazon’s interest in Future Group makes a little more sense. The U.S. behemoth has been expanding into offline retail elsewhere and, in India, groceries already form a significant part of its sales; the company expects groceries and consumables to make up more than half of its business in five years.
Still, the thinking here seems a bit schizophrenic. On the one hand, Amazon is tying up with the small mom-and-pop shops that continue to dominate the Indian market, through Amazon Now. On the other hand, it seems to think that Future Group’s bigger stores are a good investment. The company’s first instinct was probably correct. If organized grocery delivery in India is going to take off, it will be thanks to someone who uses the extensive networks already put in place by local vendors.
Finally, investors worried about Walmart’s purchase of Flipkart because the price seemed too high for the education in e-commerce that Bentonville thought it was buying. Companies can’t simply pick up what they learn in India and apply it everywhere else. Indian consumers have special needs — they’re untrusting, for one, and price-sensitive, for another. They’re unlikely to build up big data trails on any one e-commerce site: Indians shop around constantly for the best deal.
However attractive on the surface, India’s retail market isn’t like those elsewhere; it demands new models. Flipkart revolutionized e-commerce in India thanks to its cash-on-delivery option, since customers here prefer to hold an item in their hand before they pay for it. But it’s important to distinguish between genuine innovation and workarounds meant to avoid regulatory hassles, such as India’s ban on e-commerce companies holding their own inventory. Before reaching for their wallets, international players need to figure out if a model is genuinely adapted to Indian shoppers’ needs and, ideally, should wait for payments, tax and inventory regulations to settle down before spending billions on scaling up.
Foreign companies and investors had better also keep in mind that the giant Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd. is preparing its own push into shopping. Fresh after using the steady profits of its oil business to upend Indian telecommunications — forcing a series of mergers and exits — Reliance now wants to expand its Jio telecom brand into shopping, among other sectors. Anyone betting on dominating retail in India will have to beat Reliance at home. They could be in for an expensive lesson.

India shifts to gold discount but Akshaya Tritya seen reigniting demand

Gold was sold at a discount in India as demand remained subdued for a fourth straight week while buying in the rest of Asia picked up as prices fell for a third consecutive week.

"Many consumers are busy in paying advance tax. Since this is last month of the fiscal year, they have to pay taxes by March end," said Ashok Jain, proprietor of Mumbai-based wholesaler Chenaji Narsinghji.

India's fiscal year runs from April to March.

Dealers in India were offering a discount of up to $3 an ounce over official domestic prices, compared with a premium of $2 last week. The domestic price includes a 10 per cent import tax.

"Retail demand is very weak. Despite the correction in prices, consumers are showing little interest in buying," said Harshad Ajmera, the proprietor of JJ Gold House, a wholesaler in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

In the local market, gold was trading at 30,405 rupees per 10 grams, after hitting a 15-month high of 30,839 rupees last month.

India's gold imports in February dropped a quarter from a year ago to 63 tonnes as higher prices curtailed demand in the world's second-biggest consumer of bullion, provisional data from precious metals consultancy GFMS and bank dealers showed.

Weddings and Akshay Tritiya festival, when buying gold is considered auspicious, could lift demand in April, Ajmera said.

Meanwhile in China, there was some good buying through the mid week, with gold selling at a premium of $6-$8 over benchmark rates this week, down slightly from $8-10 last week.

Gold prices extended losses into a third session on Friday as the dollar strengthened against the yen on hopes of easing tensions between the United States and North Korea and ahead of U.S. non-farm payroll data later in the day.

Benchmark spot gold prices have fallen for a third straight week.

Premiums of 70 cents to a $1.20 were being charged in Hong Kong last week, while in Singapore, premiums were unchanged at the 80 cent level.

"There was a pick up in demand when prices fell below $1,320 last week ... There is buying on dips and we expect prices to go down further, which should see some buying," said Ronald chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.

In Japan, premiums were unchanged from last week at 50 cents despite good demand.

The demand in Japan was strong due to lower prices in Japanese yen terms, but have started to wane towards the end of the week, a Tokyo-based trader said.

Gold jumps to 14-month high as global stock markets face meltdown

Amidst rout in global equities on Tuesday gold soared to over 14-month high of Rs 31,600 per ten gram - gaining Rs 330 at the bullion market here, largely in sync with the overseas trend.
The gains were also supported by strong demand from local jewellers to meet the wedding season demand.
Silver gained as well and reclaimed the Rs 40,000-per kg mark on the back of increased offtake by industrial units.
Traders said a massive sell-off in stock markets globally led investors to seek shelter in safe haven investments, particularly precious metals.
The BSE Sensex cracked below the 34,000-mark by plunging about 1,275 points or 3.6 per cent in opening trade due to across-the-board losses after investor sentiment was hit by a sell-off in world markets.
The US Dow suffered its deepest fall in history, erasing all of its 2018 gains, while the S&P 500 took a beating to sit down for the year yesterday. Most of the Asian markets followed the suit.
As safe haven investment, bullion markets became attractive.
In Singapore, gold edged up by 0.27 per cent to USD 1,342.60 an ounce and silver up 0.84 per cent to USD 16.85 an ounce.
Besides, traders said, wedding season buying by local jewellers supported the upside.
In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity rallied by Rs 330 each to Rs 31,600 and Rs 31,450 per 10 gram, a level last seen on November 9, 2016. Sovereign, however, held flat at Rs 24,800 per piece of eight grams.
In a similar fashion, silver ready surged by Rs 500 to Rs 40,000 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 510 to Rs 38,960 per kg. Silver coins continued to be traded at previous level of Rs 74,000 for buying and Rs 75,000 for selling of 100 pieces.

Gold sparkled in 2017 despite record surge in US stocks, 3 Fed rate hikes

Gold is opening the new year on the front foot. Bullion advanced for an eighth straight day to head for the longest stretch of gains since mid-2011, building on an annual surge that pushed the precious metal to its best year in seven as the dollar weakened.
Bullion for immediate delivery advanced as much as 0.5 per cent to $1,309.32 an ounce, the highest level since September 26, and was at $1,309.06 at 6:37 am in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Last year, the commodity climbed 14 per cent as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index lost 8.5 per cent to post the steepest decline since at least 2005.
Gold's strong run in 2017 came even as US stock markets surged to records and the Federal Reserve increased interest rates three times amid signs of an improving economy. Fed policy makers are projecting another three hikes in 2018, while other central banks around the world have also shifted toward a tighter monetary stance, with the European Central Bank planning to halve its asset purchases starting this month.

"As global complacency over the trajectory of US rates continues to be astoundingly low, precious metals, in general, should continue to benefit," Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at Oanda Corp in Singapore, said in a note. "The old adage that the market can stay irrational longer then you can stay solvent appears to be alive and well in the gold market at the moment."
As prices rose again on Tuesday, bullion's 14-day relative strength index was at 71.3, up from 69.1 on Friday and above the level of 70 that can indicate that an asset may be set for a decline. "The relative strength index is now at very overbought levels," Halley warned.
Among releases that investors will scrutinise this week for clues on the direction of monetary policy are minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's December meeting, due on January 3. Separately, there'll be non-farm payrolls and average hourly earnings issued on January 5.
In other precious metals:
Silver added 0.5 per cent to $17.0188 an ounce
Platinum rose 0.6 per cent to $933.89 an ounce
Palladium climbed 1.1 per cent to $1,074.97 an ounce, the highest level since 2001