India's gold futures may rise above 15,000-rupees-mark this week on safe-haven properties of the yellow metal amid volatility in the global currency market, analysts said. "Weaker rupee and the underlying bullishness in international market (is) driving the market higher," said Pradeep Unni, a senior research analyst with Richcomm Global Services. "And its possible that India gold prices could rise beyond 15,000-mark as the week progresses," he said. Analysts said gold has majorly benefitted from investment demand amid little physical demand as high prices and a weaker rupee continued to dent demand. Gold imports by India, the world's largest buyer of the metal, fell 47 percent in 2008 to 402 tonnes as high prices and a slowing economy dented demand, a leading trade body said in early January. "....price sensitive Indian demand is likely to fade rapidly at prices above $900 (an ounce)," James Steel, chief commodity analyst, HSBC, said in a report. Gold futures on the continuation charts on MCX was little changed at 14,073 rupees per 10 grams at 2:12 p.m., after gaining about 7 percent in the previous week. The contract is within striking distance of all-time high of 14,320 rupees struck on Oct. 10. Gold ended last year higher by 29.2 percent at 13,690 rupees as investors sought safety in the precious metals complex amid the global financial turmoil. Since gold has entered into a new trending phase (a positive trend), it will keep on hitting highs without major corrections, said a technical analyst at a Mumbai-based commodity brokerage. Gold had been and moving sideways in a range of 11,100-13,800 for almost a year, the technical analyst said.

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