Mumbai: Gold prices surged to mark third weekly gain on the back of sustained offtake from investors and demand from stockists and jewellers in view of ongoing festive season driven by bullish global sentiment. The buying gained momentum as the country geared for the wedding season with ongoing festival of Diwali.
Globally, the race for the US presidential election supported the gold prices which witnessed a sharp gain of over 2 per cent for the week, ever since the FBI announced an investigation into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's emails, uncertainty over the outcome of the election has peaked, with markets not ruling out the possibility of a victory for Republican Donald Trump.
Elsewhere, silver too maintained its second weekly gain owing to robust industrial demand. In worldwide trade, gold futures settled with a gain to tally a more than 2 per cent climb for the week, as uncertainty surrounding the UK's exit from the European Union and the coming US election raised the metal's attractiveness as a haven.
New York gold prices saw a weekly gain of 2.2 per cent, which marked the metal's fourth-consecutive weekly gain, while NY silver paring its weekly rise to roughly 3.2 per cent.
In New York Comex trade, gold for delivery in December rose to finish at USD 1,304.50 an ounce as compared to last weekend's close of USD 1,276.80 and silver for December also climbed to settle at USD 18.371 an ounce from USD 17.796.
On the domestic front, standard gold (99.5 purity) opened higher at Rs 30,161 per 10 grams against its last Friday's level of Rs 29,995. It later surged to a high of Rs 30,680 before closing at Rs 30,660, showing a rise of Rs 665 per 10 grams, or 2.22 per cent.
Similarly, pure gold (99.9 purity) also opened higher at Rs 30,311 per 10 grams from its last Friday's close of Rs 30,145. It later climbed to Rs 30,830 before finishing at Rs 30,810, revealing a gain of Rs 665 per 10 grams, or 2.23 per cent.
Silver ready (.999 fineness) opened positive at Rs 43,301 per kilo from its previous weekend level of Rs 43,100, later moved to a high of Rs 44,450, before ending at Rs 44,035, registering a surge of Rs 935 per kilo, or 2.17 per cent.
