(Reuters) - India gold buying remained weak on Thursday afternoon on seasonal slackness in offtake and as a weaker rupee made the dollar-quoted asset expensive, dealers said.
"It's very quiet since last week as June and July are traditionally quiet months," said a dealer with a state-run bullion dealing bank in Mumbai.
The most-active August contract was trading 0.03 percent lower at 18,846 rupees per 10 grams at 2:14 p.m.
The Indian rupee traded weak but was off a three-week low touched in early trade on Thursday, on the back of some exporter dollar sales, dealers said.
"I have a few orders below $1,230 (an ounce)," said another dealer with a private bank.
The onset of monsoon typically crimps gold demand in India as rural households, which account for 65 percent of total gold buying, use funds to buy seeds and fertiliser.
India's gold imports in June are likely to fall, for the third straight month, by 75 percent from 29.9 tonnes a year ago as record prices dented demand in the world's largest market for the metal, the head of Bombay Bullion Association said.
(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Sunil Nair)
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