Gold up by Rs125, silver at record high of Rs49,500 per kg

Silver prices spurted by Rs800 to touch a new peak of Rs49,500 per kg on the bullion market today on heavy buying by stockists in line with a firm global trend.

Gold also moved up by Rs125 to Rs20,870 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 Rs49,500 per kg on aggressive buying influenced by reports of the precious metal soaring to 30-year high in the overseas markets today.

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% to $1,396.35 an ounce, the highest level since January 4. Silver rose 1.5% to $33.14 an ounce, the highest level since March 1980.

On the domestic front, silver ready surged by Rs800 to Rs49,500 per kg, a level never seen before. Silver weekly-based delivery shot up by Rs945 to Rs49,490 per kg.

However, silver coins met resistance at existing higher levels and tumbled by Rs2,000 each to Rs54,000 for buying and Rs54,500 for selling of 100 pieces.

In line with a general firm trend, the gold of 99.9 and 99.5% purity shot up by Rs125 and Rs115 to Rs20,870 and Rs20,750 per 10 grams, respectively.

Sovereign also rose by Rs30 to a new peak of Rs16,980 per piece of eight grams.