Mumbai :Gold prices took a fresh knock and slumped back to close below the psychological Rs 25,000-mark at the bullion hub here on aggressive stockists and speculative unwinding amid short selling.
The overnight recovery proved to be short-lived as the metal once again turned to sell-off mode following extreme volatile overseas trend.
Gold succumbed to heavy selling pressure in overseas market after weaker-than-expected data from China and the euro zone raised concerns about global growth amid mounting fears over an imminent Fed rate hike.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) plummeted by a whopping Rs 445 to finish at Rs 24,590 per 10 gm – its lowest level since 2011, compared to Thursday’s close of Rs 25,035.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also slumped by a similar margin to end at Rs 24,740 per 10 grams from Rs 25,185.
The domestic sentiment has been hit hard in recent days by the sharp plunge in the prices of key commodities worldwide trade, a bullion trader commented.
Elsewhere, silver took a severe knock and tumbled sharply on frantic unwinding by savvy traders.
Silver (.999 fineness) tanked by Rs 620 to conclude at Rs 34,215 per kg as against Rs 34,835 yesterday.
On the global front, spot gold was sharply down at USD 1,083 an ounce in early European trading and silver was quoted lower at USD 14.49 an ounce.
PTI