Silver spurts further, gold also gains

Silver prices shot up further at the bullion market here today due to heavy speculative and stockist buying triggered by bullish overseas trend.

Gold also gained on better off-take from jewellers as well as good local buying interest.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) strengthened by Rs 495 per kg to end at Rs 45,505 from Tuesday's closing level of Rs 45,010.

Standard gold (99.5 per cent purity) firmed up by Rs 40 per 10 grams to finish at Rs 20,320 from Rs 20,280 previously.

Pure gold (99.9 per cent purity) also went up by a similar margin to conclude at Rs 20,420 per 10 grams as against Rs 20,380 yesterday.

In New York, gold futures rose on falling dollar valuation and demand from Asia.

Gold futures for February delivery up by $7.70 to $1,368.20 an ounce. Silver for March delivery also moved up by 59 cents to $28.91 an ounce.