Gold prices crashed by Rs 105 per ten gram on the bullion market in Mumbai on Friday due to heavy offering by stockists after a sharp fall in New York prices. Silver also nosedived by Rs 190 per kilo.
Another reason for the steep fall in prices was poor supply as dealers preferred to make their commitments restricted after government announcement on Wednesday to make gold and silver import duty-free and were adopting a want-and-watch policy, dealers said.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) opened sharply weak at Rs 6,020 and declined further to end at Rs 6,010, showing a whopping Rs 105 fall over Thursday's close of Rs 6,115.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also started notably lower at Rs 6,055 and continued to lean down in line with the general trend, before closing at Rs 6,050, also showing a similar loss over the previous close of Rs 6,155.
In New York, gold futures on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange plunged by over $16 per ounce on heavy fund long liquidation on Thursday.
The metal suffered a similar setback in the domestic markets too as in Kolkota, standard gold nosedived to Rs 6,110 per ten gram from yesterday's close of Rs 6,230, while in Chennai, it fell sharply to Rs 6,025 from the previous close of Rs 6,130, they said.