MUMBAI (Reuters) - India gold futures edged higher on Thursday to hover near their all-time high boosted by a weaker rupee and stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer prices stoking inflationary concerns, analysts said.
The most-traded November copper contract was 0.23 percent higher at 17,145 rupees per 10 grams at 10:44 a.m., after hitting a fresh all-time high of 17,236 in the previous session.
"Gold may continue to go up on inflationary concerns and a weaker rupee," said Tejas Seth, senior research analyst with SMC Global.
The Indian rupee weakened early on Thursday tracking weak domestic and regional stock markets and a steady dollar against majors also seen hurting sentiment.
A weaker rupee makes the dollar-quoted asset expensive.
The CPI core rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, stepped up 0.2 percent, above the 0.1 percent gain forecast by economists.
Gold may trade in the range of 17,070-17,170 rupees, said Murukesh Kumar, senior research analyst with JRG Wealth Management.
Open interest for December gold on MCX was at 17,833 lots, up from 17,506 a day earlier. Volume on Wednesday was 42.36 kg.
For a technical look at gold click www.reutersindia.net/gold.htm
(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Harish Nambiar)
