Gold staged a smart rally today following brisk buying by stockists as well as retail investors, driven by strong overseas sentiment.
Silver also gained sharply on the back of heavy speculative offtake, coupled with good offtake from jewellery makers.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) spurted by Rs 201 to Rs 28,575 per 10 grams at 1400 hrs from Friday's level of Rs 28,374, a bullion trading firm said.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) rose by a similar margin to Rs 28,725 per 10 grams from Rs 28,524 previously, according to Riddisiddhi Bullions Ltd.
Silver (.999 fineness) surged by Rs 573 to Rs 43,738 per kg at 1400 hrs from yesterday's value of Rs 43,165.
On the global front, the shiny metal reclaimed the psychologically important USD 1,300 an ounce level on bargain hunting as well as short-covering after a less-than-stellar March jobs report triggered safe-haven demand.
Gold for June delivery jumped USD 18.90 to settle at USD 1,303.50 an ounce on the comex division of the NYMEX late yesterday and May silver contract also gained 14 cents to end at USD 19.95 an ounce.
