Gold in Singapore, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, fell by 1.4 per cent to $1,278.94 an ounce and silver by 2.8 per cent to $19.55 an ounce.
The four officials were asked questions related to the UPA government's '20:80' gold import scheme, which was cleared by Chidambaram on May 13, 2014, barely three days before the counting of votes of the general election
Gold in Singapore, which normally sets price trend on the domestic front, fell by 0.3 per cent to $1,180.78 an ounce.
Traders said sentiments turned better after gold recovered from an eight-month low in global markets on speculation that reduced prices may spur purchases before the Federal Reserve begins a two-day policy meeting.
Many analysts were surprised at the speed with which India bought the IMF gold. However, they believe that it is a very smart move as by buying IMF gold, New Delhi is shoring up its bullion reserves and slowly trying to hedge its bets on the US dollar which has been losing value against other currencies.
Gold hits Rs.11,360, thanks to rate cuts by US Fed Bank and a languishing dollar.
This was the second consecutive yearly outflow from such funds.
In a draft paper prepared by the RBI seeking public opinion until January 18, the banking regulator has proposed a financial instrument linked to gold to curb the demand of its physical holding.
The precious metal is understood to have arrived in large quantities through official channels, including direct import by export-oriented units, in the last week of March.
RBI capped the gold lease period at 90 days under the direct import route.
Justifying the hike in customs duty on gold in the Budget, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said its huge imports cause strain on the balance of payment and affect exchange rate, but it does not have any direct bearing on the forex reserve.
Banks in talks with temple trusts to push gold scheme
Gold imports rose in December to 25 tonnes, higher than 19 tonnes in the previous month, mainly on account of wrong interpretation of the RBI's 80:20 scheme, sources said.
Silver also rose 0.8 per cent to $16.63 an ounce.
The decision was taken in view of significant rise in imports of gold in recent years putting pressure on current account deficit.
Traders said a weakening trend in the precious metals overseas after the Federal Reserve pressed on with cuts to stimulus amid signs of a recovery in the US, reducing demand for the safe haven, mainly put pressure on the gold prices in New Delhi.
Tracking a weak trend overseas and low demand from domestic jewellers and retailers, gold prices plunged by Rs 200 to Rs 26,350 per ten gram in New Delhi on Monday.
Silver was also up by 1.63 per cent to $15.92 an ounce.
These companies may recall loans in extreme cases; loan-to-value ratio stands at 60% but scrap value at 75%.
Silver, platinum and palladium all declined.
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The Reserve Bank partly eased restrictions on import of gold dore by allowing refineries to import 15 per cent of their gross annual requirement.
The foreign exchange reserves moved up $326 million to $76.077 billion for the week ended April 18, 2003.
Gold prices plunged to over ten months low by losing Rs 505 to Rs 29,470 per ten gram in the national capital on Thursday on frantic selling by stockists amid restricted buying, driven by a steep fall in overseas markets.
The RBI has issued guidelines and the government has notified it.
Gold drifted lower by Rs 200 to trade at one-week low of Rs 31,050 per ten grams.
Deposit certificates will also be exempt from capital gains tax.
In the previous reporting week, the reserves had surged by $954.6 million to $294.36 billion.
Shares of Bajaj Finance sprinted 4.7 per cent to Rs 7,732 per share on the BSE in Thursday's (January 4) intra-day trade as the non-bank finance company's (NBFC's) December quarter business update reflected minimal impact of the Reserve Bank of India's ban on two of its lending products. The shares, eventually, ended 4.4 per cent higher at Rs 7,710 per share as against 0.69 per cent gain in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex. The NBFC's asset under management (AUM) topped the Rs 3-trillion-mark at the end of December 2023, swelling by roughly Rs 20,700 crore (35 per cent year-on-year) to hit Rs 3.11 trillion-mark.
Gold is often favoured as a hedge against economic and financial uncertainty
Showtime is watchable but never engrossing, notes Sukanya Verma.
Conversion into jewellery during redemption would entail 15-20% wastage and making charges, rendering the scheme inefficient
CAD touched a historic high of $88 billion in 2012-13.
'If rate cuts happen, bond yields will come down and investors will make mark-to-market capital gains on them.'
The government on Monday slashed import tariff value on gold and silver to $408 per 10 grams and $617 per kg respectively, in view of weakness in bullion prices globally.
