Gold, silver slide on continued global sell-off

Mumbai, Sept 26: Gold continued its depreciation at the domestic bullion market here today on frantic offloading from investors and traders, driven by uninterrupted sell-off in the global markets.

Silver also sank further on hectic speculative selling amid sluggish industrial demand.

The precious metals saw a heavy unwinding in the morning trade with standard gold plunging by Rs 1,270 per 10 grams to Rs 25,590 and silver eroding Rs 5,535 a kg to Rs 48,740.

It was a free-fall in precious metals as selling intensified after panicked investors ran for cash over heightening fear of potential Greek debt default.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) dropped by Rs 635 per 10 grams to end at Rs 26,225 from last Saturday''s closing level of Rs 26,860.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) fell sharply by Rs 630 per 10 grams to close at Rs 26,355 from its previous close of Rs 26,985.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) tumbled by a massive Rs 2,450 per kg to conclude at Rs 51,825 from Rs 54,275 last weekend.

In London, spot gold traded down at USD 1,621.49 an ounce in early trade, and spot silver was at USD 29.54 an ounce.

PTI