Precious metals inch up on bullish advice

Mumbai, Oct 15: Precious metals today opened firm with Silver gaining by Rs 95 per kg and pure Gold by Rs 45 per ten gm due to better buying support, traders at the Bombay Bullion Association said.

Traders received reports from Tokyo market that Gold edged higher on Monday, as inflation concerns due to high oil prices kept the precious metal near its 28-year high, while platinum inched down from a record high though sentiment stayed bullish.

Japanese precious metal futures jumped, with the key gold futures reaching a fresh 22-year high and the key platinum hitting a new record high.

Cash gold was trading at USD 749.60/750.40 an ounce, up from USD 748.40/749.10 in late New York on Friday.

On Thursday, the cash price rose as high as USD 753.60 -- its highest since January 1980.

COMEX gold futures were little changed in Asia after falling in New York on Friday. The most active December contract was trading up USD 0.8 or 0.1 per cent at USD 754.6 from the New York settlement on Friday.

Precious metals are expected to be well-supported due to bullish oil prices.

Following are the opening rates of spot silver and gold: Silver (per kg).999 fineness grade: Rs 18,430, Gold (per 10 gm): Gold 99.5 purity standard mint : Rs 9,620, Gold 99.9 purity pure Gold Rs 9,670.

UNI