A weaker rupee helped gold futures surge past their highest level in nearly a fortnight, hurting purchases by gold wholesalers, who had sought to stock for the festival season amid a gloomy import outlook.
* The most-active gold for August delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) hit a high of 29,397 rupees per 10 grams early Monday, the level last seen on July 11, before trading 0.37 percent higher at 29,386 rupees per 10 grams at 0820 GMT.
* Imports of gold into India have been subdued so far this year, with occasional buying at sub-28,000 rupees level.
* "Buying is zero as rupee has depreciated again," said Haresh Acharya, head of bullion desk, Parker Bullion in Ahmedabad, adding there could be compulsory buying for festivals.
* The rupee, which dropped to its lowest level in over a week, plays an important role in determining the landed cost of the dollar-quoted yellow metal.
* A below-average monsoon could impact farm incomes and thereby gold demand as most of the country's gold imports target rural areas.
* India's gold imports fell by over a half in the June quarter and could slide by a third over the next three months as prices inflated by a weak rupee and a 4 percent import duty encourage traders to use scrap, a Reuters poll showed.
* Silver edged lower following copper, another industrial metal.
* Silver for September delivery on the MCX was 0.27 percent lower at 52,697 rupees per kg.
