Gold, silver down on weak global cues

New Delhi, Mar 23. Both the precious metals, gold and silver, fell here today, following stockists selling on sluggish demand amid lower global trend. While gold fell by Rs 75 to Rs 30,255 per 10 grams, silver dropped by Rs 765 to Rs 54,415 per kg on reduced offtake by jewellers and industrial units. The sentiment turned bearish after gold fell in global markets as lawmakers in Cyprus debated measures needed for a bailout, crimping demand for the precious metal as a store of value, traders said. Gold in New York, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, fell by USD 5.60 to USD 1,609.20 an ounce and silver by 1.44 per cent to USD 28.76 an ounce. Besides, stockists selling on the back of sluggish demand further fuelled the downtrend, they said. On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs 75 each to Rs 30,255 and Rs 30,055 per 10 grams, respectively. The metal had gained Rs 80 yesterday. Sovereigns continued to be asked around previous level of Rs 25,300 per piece of eight grams. In line with a general weak trend, silver ready dropped by Rs 765 to Rs 54,415 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 635 to Rs 54,200 per kg, respectively. On the other hand, silver coins held steady at Rs 82,000 for buying and Rs 83,000 for selling of 100 pieces.