MUMBAI: Gold futures eased on Friday afternoon on a drop in the overseas market, but a weak rupee limited the downside, though spot demand was weak, and dealers said.
* At 2:45 p.m., the most-active gold for August delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was down 0.2 percent to 22,451 rupees per 10 grams.
* "For the past few days demand has been very weak. Wedding season demand is over, there is no festival this month to attract people to buy gold," S.L. Jain, a Delhi-based jeweller, said.
* International gold edged lower on Friday, but jitters about whether Greece was edging closer to default and economic spillover from the country's debt crisis could still spur safe haven buying.
* The Indian rupee, which has a bearing on the landed cost of dollar-quoted gold, was at 44.9500/9550, weaker from the previous 44.90/91 per dollar dragged by weak local shares, with dollar purchases by oil companies as well as a large telecom company also weighing, dealers said.
