MUMBAI, Oct 23 (Reuters) - India's gold futures were almost steady in early trade on Friday with a negative bias weighed by a strong rupee, but may rise later in the session to hit new records, analysts said.
The most-traded December contract MAUZ9 was 0.04 percent lower at 16,005 rupees at 10:54 a.m., after hitting a low of 15,997 rupees in early deals.
The contract had struck a record high of 16,050 rupees on Thursday, erasing the earlier all-time high of 16,048 rupees.
The Indian rupee snapped a two-day fall and rose boosted by gains in regional peers and a higher start to the domestic sharemarket, which could fuel more foreign capital inflows. A strong rupee makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper. [INR/]
However, analysts said the yellow metal may power to new records later on the back of a weak dollar overseas, which enhances gold's appeal as an alternative asset.
"Gold would trade firm and might go on to make another record due to dollar weakness," said Thiagarajan. "The maximum upside seen would be 16,200/16,225 rupees," said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director, Commtrendz Research.
"The range seen for the day is 15,960-16,100 rupees," said Abhishek Chauhan, an analyst with Angel Commodities.
Open interest for December gold on MCX was at 13,692 lots, down from 13,795 a day earlier. Volume on Thursday was 38.31 kg.
