Silver, gold open low on weak advice

Mumbai, Nov 20: Spot silver and gold today opened softer with silver easing by Rs 350 per kg and gold by Rs 105 per ten gm from their last close on sustained heavy offers from stockists induced by bearish advice from global markets, traders at the Bombay Bullion Association said.

Reports from Singapore markets said gold extended losses on Tuesday and hovered near its lowest level in more than three weeks as investors, concerned about the health of the U S economy, avoided riskier investment.

Spot gold fell to USD 777.30/777.90 an ounce from USD 780.10/780.90 late in New York on Monday when it hit an intraday low of USD 774.90 on stock-market jitters and investor risk aversion.

The benchmark October 2008 gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 57 yen per gram to 2,772 yen due to a firmer yen.

Asian stocks fell on Tuesday as investors dumped bank shares amid worries that the financial sector would be hit by further credit losses following a broker downgrade of Citigroup.

Silver fell to USD 14.17/14.22 an ounce from USD 14.22/14.27 late in New York which impacted the downward trend in the domestic prices, dealers pointed out.

Following are the opening rates of spot silver and gold: Silver (per kg).999 fineness grade: Rs 18,980, Gold (per 10 gm): Gold 99.5 purity standard mint Rs 9,965, Gold 99.9 purity pure Gold Rs 10,010.

UNI