MUMBAI: India gold buying retreated on Friday afternoon as traders awaited a fall in prices, while a weaker rupee, which made the dollar-quoted asset expensive, weighed on sentiment, dealers said. Although there are traders and consumers looking to buy gold with festivals coming up, the 6 percent jump in the past three weeks have left some buyers expecting some correction.
"There are not much sales on account of festivals, people are expecting a fall in prices as they are trading near their all-time high," said a dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai, which deals in bullion. International gold, which guides the domestic market, was trading at $1,230.70/1,231.40 an ounce, as against the previous close of $1,230.10/1,234.10.
Gold rose on Friday, holding near a 1.5 month high hit the previous day as worries about a deepening U.S. economic slowdown helped push up holdings in the world's largest ETF for the third consecutive day.
"The level of 18,000 rupees (per 10 grams) would be a good level to buy," said Haresh Acharya, head of bullion desk, Parker Agrochem. The Indian rupee edged marginally lower as weakness in global shares following dismal U.S. factory and jobs data weighed, but traders would watch the dollar's moves during the day for further direction.
