Gold, silver fall on sluggish demand

New Delhi, Feb 20. Both the precious metals, gold and silver, fell for the second straight session today on sustained selling by stockists on sluggish demand amid a weakening global trend. While gold fell further by Rs 200 to Rs 30,200 per 10 grams, silver by Rs 900 to Rs 55,800 per kg on reduced offtake by jewellers and industrial units. Traders said sustained selling by stockists on sluggish demand mainly kept pressure on both gold and silver prices. They said a weak global trend on concern that the Federal Reserve will signal plans to end its third round of stimulus measures, easing demand for the precious metal as an inflation hedge also influenced the sentiment. Gold in New York, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, fell by USD 5.20 to USD 1,604.60 an ounce and silver by 1.80 per cent to USD 29.44 an ounce last night. On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell further by Rs 200 each to Rs 30,200 and Rs 30,000 per 10 grams, respectively. It had shed Rs 15 in yesterday. Sovereigns followed suit and declined by Rs 100 to Rs 25,200 per piece of eight grams. In a similar fashion, silver ready dropped by Rs 900 to Rs 55,800 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 1140 to Rs 55,100 per kg. The white metal had lost Rs 150 in the previous session. However, silver coins continued to be asked around previous level of Rs 79,000 for buying and Rs 80,000 for selling of 100 pieces.