India gold buying continues as rupee supports

India's gold traders continued with their limited purchases on Wednesday as a strong rupee, which makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper, aided sentiment, dealers said.

"We did a few deals in the morning at $1,1211,122 (an ounce), most of them are waiting for lower prices," said a dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai.                                           

The Indian rupee rose for a third straight session, rising to a seven-week high, helped by a report calling for a yuan revaluation and tracking early gains in domestic shares.                           

International spot gold was $1,123.851,124.65 an ounce as against 1,118.101,118.90 an ounce the previous day. "We have a few orders at $1,110, but most of the orders are below $1,110," said another dealer with a private bank.                                           

Meanwhile, India imported 300-350 tonnes of gold in 2009, higher than the previous estimate of a little over 200 tonnes, the head of the Bombay Bullion Association said on Monday.