Gold price falls below Rs 28,000 per 10 grams level

Mumbai: bullion comprehensive its slither on the bullion souk here Wednesday and dropped below the Rs 28,000 per 10 grams level on continual selling by stockists and poor trade demand in the environment of bearish universal cues.

Silver also destabilized additional following heavy unwinding from speculators amid condensed manufacturing insist.

Normal gold (99.5 purity) dropped by Rs 235 to close at Rs 27,800 per 10 grams from Tuesday's level of Rs 28,035.

Pure bullion (99.9 purity) dipped by Rs 230 to end at Rs 27,950 per 10 grams from Rs 28,180 beforehand.

hoary (.999 fineness) drooping by Rs 555 to end at Rs 45,055 per kg as beside during the night close of Rs 45,610.

In New York, bullion prices upturned previous gains to close lower for a third meeting yesterday in the wake of dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

Gold for August release slid to USD 1,297.10 an ounce (28gm) on the Comex separation of the NYMEX late yesterday, while gray slipped to USD 20.89 an ounce.

Janet Yellen

• Vice Chairman, Federal Reserve, Washington, United States
• Age: 67
• Residence: Washington, D.C., DC
• Country of Citizenship: United States
• Education: Bachelor of Arts / Science, Brown University; Doctorate, Yale University

Profile

No. 2 at the U.S. Federal Reserve since 2010, Janet Yellen is President Barack Obama's pick to take the top spot after current Chairman Ben Bernanke steps down in 2014.

Nikkei off 0.5%, retreats from 6-month high

Tokyo: Japan's Nikkei share average stepped back from six-month highs on Tuesday morning, with a bounce in the yen denting exporters while financials retreated after their recent earnings-led rally.

The Nikkei dropped 0.5 percent to 15,082.35 in mid-morning trade, moving away from 15,273.61 hit on the previous day, the highest since May 23 when it reached a 5-1/2 year high of 15,942.60.

The broader Topix shed 0.5 percent to 1,236.06.

"Investors have started becoming risk on, but the market has risen too fast so they are staying cautious until there are more cues about Fed's tapering," said Takuya Takahashi, a strategist at Daiwa Securities.

Markets continue to watch out for any clues as to when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start unwinding its $85 billion-a-month stimulus programme, although many in the markets now see any move unlikely until March.

Financials lost ground after rising on Monday on their recent strong earnings. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) shed 1.7 percent, while Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) declined 0.9 percent and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) slid 0.5 percent.

Exporters were weaker after the dollar pulled back against the yen, reflecting expectations the Fed will maintain its easy-money policy for a while longer after dovish comments last week from incoming Fed chief Janet Yellen.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) dropped 0.5 percent and Advantest Corp (6857.T) fell 1.7 percent.

The yen was up 0.1 percent at 99.925 yen to the dollar, adding to a 0.2 percent rise overnight to end a two-day run of losses.

Last week, the yen hit a two-month low of 100.315 yen to the dollar, driven by a risk-on mode in global markets and comments from Finance Minister Taro Aso that Tokyo should retain currency intervention as a policy tool. The Nikkei gained 7.7 percent last week, it's biggest weekly rise in four years.

A weaker yen sharpens Japanese exporters' competitiveness overseas and bumps up their dollar earnings when repatriated.

The Nikkei has rallied 45 percent this year, driven by the government's expansionary fiscal and monetary policies.