Gold drifts on stockists unwinding; global rally short lives

Gold prices retreated sharply after a brief overnight surge at the domestic bullion market here due to heavy selling by jewellery stockists and traders in the face of fading global rally.
Silver also slumped on the back of frantic speculative sell-off amid subuded industrial demand.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) slumped by Rs 230 to settle at Rs 26,360 per 10 grams from Monday's closing level of Rs 26,590.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also fell by a similar margin to end at Rs 26,510 per 10 grams from Rs 26,740.
Silver (.999 fineness) tanked by Rs 395 to finish at Rs 36,405 per kg against Rs 36,800 yesterday.

In worldwide trade, the shiny metal gave back most of the gains after Monday's knee jerk reaction triggered by Greek turmoil amid lack of safe-haven buying.
Spot gold was lower at USD 1,171.20 an ounce in early European trade, while silver quoted weak at USD 15.69 an ounce.