Bullion loses sheen on profit-taking, weak global tone

Gold turned lusterless, bringing to an abrupt end a three-day rally at the domestic bullion market here on emergence of profit-taking by stockists and jewellery traders in the face of sluggish overseas cues.
Elsewhere, silver also plummeted sharply below the key Rs 35,000-mark due to heavy unwinding from speculators as well as subdued industrial offtake.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) dropped by Rs 250 to close at Rs 26,550 per 10 grams from Thursday's closing level of Rs 26,800.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also shed by a similar margin to end at Rs 26,700 per 10 grams as against Rs 26,950 earlier.

Silver (.999 fineness) tanked by a whopping Rs 565 per kg to conclude at Rs 34,920 from Rs 35,485 yesterday.
On the global front, the shiny-metal slipped from multiweek highs after dollar regained lost ground following the Bank of Japan's surprise decision to extend its monetary stimulus measures by introducing a negative interest rate policy for the first time ever to boost Japanese economy.
A massive rally in global equities and some caution ahead of the fourth-quarter US GDP data release due later also weighted on the metal.
Spot gold was trading substantially weak at USD 1,112 an ounce in early European session, while silver quoted a tad lower at USD 14.18 an ounce.