Gold rate today: Precious metals dip further as profit booking continues

Profit booking continued in precious metals on Monday as traders rushed to riskier assets, like equities, as sentiments on the Street improved further.

Both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty hit their all-time high in morning trade ahead of the signing of an interim trade deal between Washington and Beijing.

Gold futures were down 0.37 per cent to Rs 39,725 per 10 gram, while silver futures slipped 0.54 per cent to Rs 46,657 per kg.

Brokerage SMC Global said gold can dip lower towards Rs 39,600 while facing resistance near Rs 39,900, while silver can test Rs 46200 while facing resistance near Rs 47,000.



In the US markets, gold prices fell on Monday. Spot gold dipped 0.4 per cent to $1,556.40 per ounce by 0421 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.2 per cent to $1,557.10.

Gold prices had gained 18 per cent last year on the backdrop of a protracted trade tussle.

Spot gold is biased to break a support at $1,546 per ounce and fall towards $1,524, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust , fell 0.9 per cent to 874.52 tonnes on Friday, their lowest since September 16.

Speculators increased their bullish positions in COMEX gold contracts in the week to Jan. 7.

Meanwhile, palladium remained unchanged at $2,117.60 an ounce. Silver was down 0.2 per cent to $18.05, while platinum slipped 0.3 per cent to $975.44.