MUMBAI: Gold traders refrained from fresh deals on Wednesday afternoon as prices edged higher after a slight pick-up in sales late in the previous session, with a stronger rupee aiding sentiment, dealers said.
"Today, the demand is not much as prices have moved higher, we did about 100 kg at about $1,069/1,070 (an ounce) late in the evening," said a dealer with a state-run bullion dealing bank in Mumbai.
International gold was trading $1,075.50/1,076.30 an ounce at 2:07 pm, as against the previous close of $1,076.95/1,077.75. "We have sizeable orders in the range of $1,065-1,070 as jewellers want to stock for upcoming weddings," said another dealer with a private bank.
The rupee moved back towards the day's highs in afternoon trade as a reversal in the local share market yet again eased nerves about the risk of foreign capital outflows. A strong rupee makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper. India has imported 35-40 tonnes of gold during January 1-27, up from 9.8 tonnes in the whole of the same month last year, the head of a trade body and bank dealers said.
