(Reuters) - Gold traders in India refrained from placing new orders as they awaited a larger fall in prices to replenish stocks for the upcoming festival demand from August, as a weak rupee weighed on sentiment, dealers said. "The orders are still at lower levels below $1,180 (an ounce), so buy orders are not getting triggered," said a official with a private bullion dealing bank in Mumbai. International gold, which guides the domestic market, was trading $1,186.40/1,186.75 an ounce at 1:26 p.m. as against the previous close of $1,191.8/1,192.8. Gold fell towards $1,180 an ounce, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's assessment of the U.S. economic outlook as "unusually uncertain" raised concerns over the prospect of deflation. "Nothing much is happening today as the price change is not much in local terms due to a weak rupee," said a dealer with a state-run bank. The Indian rupee weakened towards recent six-week lows as a shaky start to local shares and broadly lower Asian peers weighed, and traders were watching the dollar's moves versus majors for cues. A weak rupee makes the dollar-quoted yellow metal expensive, offsetting weakness as a result of Bernanke's comment. India, which accounts for more than 20 percent of global demand, will celebrate the Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan on Aug. 24, and Janmasthami and Ganesh Chaturthi in September. The world's largest consumer of bullion may import 500-550 tonnes of gold in 2010, up from 480-490 tonnes a year earlier, the head of a trade body said last week.

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