Gold drops on profit-selling, silver gains

Gold prices dropped to a five- month low after its overnight brief respite at the bullion market in Mumbai on Wednesday on hectic profit-selling from stockists and investors amid subdued demand from retailers.

On the other hand, silver rose on good speculative as well as industrial demand.

Standard gold of 99.5 per cent purity fell by Rs 195 per 10 gm to close at Rs 30,210 from Tuesday's closing level of Rs 30,405.

Pure gold of 99.9 per cent purity slipped by Rs 190 per 10 gm to finish at Rs 30,350 from Rs 30,540.

However, silver ready (.999 fineness) surged by Rs 135 to conclude at Rs 58,415 per kg as compared to Rs 58,280 previously.

On the global front, gold firmed up in narrow trade amid cautiousness ahead of US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting and economic sentiment.

In Europe, spot gold bid up at $1,665.44 an ounce in early trade and spot silver also bid higher at $31.41 an ounce.