Gold, silver rise on strong buying, seasonal off-take

Gold prices firmed up further today on the back of increased buying from stockists and retailers amid steady retail demand in view of ongoing wedding season.
Silver also spurted and breached the Rs 43,000 per kg mark owing to heavy speculative buying as well as firm industrial support.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) rose by Rs 135 to quote at Rs 28,470 per 10 grams at 1700 hrs from Rs 28,335 last Saturday, a bullion trading company said.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) gained Rs 145 to Rs 28,630 per 10 grams from Rs 28,485 previously, according to Riddisiddhi Bullions Ltd.
Silver (.999 fineness) surged by Rs 462 to Rs 43,070 per kg at 1700 hrs from the last weekend level of Rs 42,608.

On the global front, the yellow metal continued to struggle below the psychologically important USD 1,300 an ounce level on consistent selling by investors amid growing optimism about the US economy and ahead of jobs data later in the week.
Spot traded almost flat at USD 1,294.94 an ounce in early European trade, while silver was bid higher at USD 19.97 an ounce.