Gold up by Rs 125, silver at record high

Silver prices spurted by Rs 800 to touch a new peak of Rs 49,500 a kg on the bullion market today on heavy buying by stockists in line with a firm global trend.

Gold also moved up by Rs 125 to Rs 20,870 per 10 grams on pick up in local demand for the ongoing marriage season and firm global cues.

Traders said that silver prices scaled to Rs 49,500 a kg on aggressive buying influenced by reports of the precious metal soaring to 30 year high in the overseas markets on Monday.

Trading sentiment remained bullish after gold in global markets rose to seven week high and silver to a record peak in more than 30 years as mounting tension in the Middle East lured investors to buy the precious metals as an alternate investment option, they added.

Gold in the global markets, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, increased by 0.5 per cent to $ 1,396.35 an ounce, the highest level since January 4.

Silver rose 1.5 per cent to $ 33.14 an ounce, the highest level since March 1980.

On the domestic front, silver ready surged by Rs 800 to Rs 49,500 a kg, a level never seen before. Silver weekly based delivery shot up by Rs 945 to Rs 49,490 a kg.

However, silver coins met resistance at existing higher levels and tumbled by Rs 2,000 each to Rs 54,000 for buying and Rs 54,500 for selling of 100 pieces.

In line with a general firm trend, the gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity shot up by Rs 125 and Rs 115 to Rs 20,870 and Rs 20,750 per 10 grams, respectively.

Sovereign also rose by Rs 30 to a new peak of Rs 16,980 per piece of eight grams.