Gold prices on Monday went up by Rs 40 to Rs 32,690 per 10 gram in the wake of token buying by retailers and jewellers on the occasion of auspicious 'Dhanteras'.
There is a strong belief that buying precious metals on the auspicious day brings prosperity. Dhanteras is largely celebrated in north and west India.
A weak trend in the global market as the dollar strengthened against its peers, however, limited the rise in gold prices in the domestic market here.
Bullion traders said sales were higher by nearly 20 per cent and are expected to pick up later in the day on offers including discount on diamond jewellery and making charges of gold jewellery, apart from other incentives.
Buying activity was more pronounced in 'gold' and 'silver' coins on the auspicious occasion, they said adding gold prices ruling at near six-year highs, marked just token purchases that restricted volume of business.
In the national capital, gold of 99.9 per cent and 99.5 per cent purity traded higher by Rs 40 each to Rs 32,690 and Rs 32,540 per 10 gram, respectively. It had gained Rs 20 on Saturday.
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Sovereign gold, however, held flat at Rs 24,900 per piece of 8 gram.
In futures trading at the MCX, gold for delivery in December, however, was down by Rs 22, or 0.09 per cent, to Rs 31,723 per 10 gram.
Tracking gold, silver ready also edged up by Rs 10 to Rs 39,540 per kg but weekly-based delivery fell by Rs 183 to Rs 38,637 per kg in line with weak global cues.
Globally, gold fell 0.04 per cent to USD 1,232.70 an ounce and silver by 0.14 per cent to USD 14.80 an ounce in Singapore on Monday.
Meanwhile, gold prices have surged by Rs 1,980 or over 6 per cent while silver has dropped by Rs 1,470 or 3.5 per cent from last year's Dhanteras.