India gold futures extended gains for a fifth day in a row on Monday buoyed by chart-based buying and a weak rupee, which makes the dollar quoted gold expensive, analysts said. Physical buying for Akshaya Tritya, an auspicious day to buy gold, also aided sentiment, they added. The most traded April gold contract MAUM9 was 0.72 percent higher at 14,730 rupees per 10 grams at 11:26 a.m., after having gained 2.3 percent in the previous four sessions. "Chart based buying on the consecutive break of key resistances at swift intervals and surge in physical demand has resulted in a sudden jump," said Pradeep Unni, senior research analyst with Richcomm Global. "On a long-term chart, gold is exactly above the triple bottom, signifying bullishness," said BG Manjunath, technical analyst with Way 2 Wealth Securities. India, the world's largest consumer of gold, celebrates Akshaya Tritiya, which is considered as auspicious to buy gold. The Indian rupee weakened on Monday after having risen for seven straight weeks, as the domestic stock market consolidated after a big rally since early March and the dollar strengthened overseas. See [ID:nBOM92183] "As the global stocks retreat on profit-taking and flu fears, gold would gather pace," said Unni. Asian stock markets fell on Monday after an outbreak of swine flu in North America turned investors wary, at a time when the global economy is showing signs of recovering from deep recession.

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