Gold up Rs 415, silver by Rs 905 as Re slumps to new lows

New Delhi, Jun 11. Both the precious metals, gold and silver, today surged on stockists buying as weak rupee raised concerns of increase in import costs. While gold spurted by Rs 415 to Rs 28,515 per 10 grams, silver surged by Rs 905 to Rs 44,690 per kg on rising demand from industrial units and coin makers. Traders said a weak rupee would make the import of the precious metals in dollar terms costlier and increase retail prices. India imports most of its gold requirements. Inching closer to the 59 mark, the rupee today fell by a whopping 74 paise to hit a new all-time low of 58.90 on persistent dollar demand. Shifting of funds from weakening equity to rising bullion further fuelled the uptrend in the precious metals, they said. On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity zoomed up by Rs 415 each to Rs 28,515 and Rs 28,315 per 10 grams, respectively. It had gained Rs 100 yesterday. Sovereigns followed suit and shot up by Rs 200 to Rs 25,400 per piece of eight grams. In a similar fashion, silver ready spurted by Rs 905 to Rs 44,690 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs 870 to Rs 44,040 per kg. The metal had gained Rs 185 in the previous session. Silver coins also sky-rocketed by Rs 2,000 to Rs 79,000 for buying and Rs 80,000 for selling of 100 pieces.