Gold rises on buoyant seasonal offtake; silver drops

Gold prices recovered smartly at the domestic bullion market here on the back of renewed buying interest from jewellery stockists and retailers supported by festive and wedding-related demand.
While, silver remained under intense selling pressure for the third straight session owing to sluggish demand from industrial users.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) spurted by Rs 80 to finish at Rs 26,775 per 10 grams from overnight level of Rs 26,695.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also climbed by a similar margin to settle at Rs 26,925 per 10 grams against Rs 26,845.
However, silver (.999 fineness) dropped by Rs 130 to end at Rs 37,000 per kg as compared to Rs 37,130 yesterday.

On the global front, the shiny-metal traded mostly range-bound in the absence of any major directional cues amid investors caution ahead of forthcoming Greece debt talks and Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meet.
Spot gold was substantially lower at USD 1,199.11 an ounce in early European trade, while spot silver quoted weak at USD 15.97 an ounce.