Gold continued its ascent and today reclaimed the psychologically important Rs 31,000 per 10 gram mark at the domestic bullion hub on steady wave of speculative and stockists’ buying frenzy amid strong global sentiment.Significant increase in jewellery and investment demand against the backdrop of sliding rupee value also helped prices surge.The precious metal has been on the rise ever since the government clamped down on gold imports by imposing series of duty hikes and constraints on supplies to control the widening current account deficit (CAD).

Moreover, there is a huge supply shortage in the market due to lack of clarity on modalities of imports.Encouraged by the overall trend, industrial metal silver also surged ahead to reclaim the important Rs 51,000 per kilogram level driven by aggressive speculative buy-out along with robust industrial off take.Standard gold of 99.5 per cent purity soared by Rs 630 to conclude at Rs 31,325 per 10 gram from Friday’s closing level of Rs 30,695.Pure gold of 99.9 per cent purity spiked by Rs 640 to end at Rs 31,470 per 10 gram from Rs 30,830.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) jumped by a massive Rs 1,505 to finish at Rs 51,485 per kg compared to Rs 49,980 yesterday.Over the week, gold zoomed 9.76 per cent and silver leapt 18.93 per cent, in a record weekly surge.

  Gold