Gold futures decline 0.4 per cent on profit-booking

Gold prices fell by 0.45 per cent to Rs 29,422 per 10 ten grams in futures trading on February 25 as participants indulged in profit-booking at prevailing levels, even as metal strengthened overseas.

At the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold for delivery in April declined by Rs 132, or 0.45 per cent to Rs 29,422 per ten grams in a business turnover of 507 lots. Similarly, metal for delivery in June contracts weakened by Rs 121, or 0.41 per cent to Rs 29,675 per ten grams in 16 lots.

Analysts attributed the fall in gold futures to profit-booking by traders at existing levels. They said, however, a firming trend overseas where gold advanced for a third day, heading for the biggest monthly advance in four years, as investors weighed economic data from the US that added to the case for interest rates remaining lower for longer, capped the fall.

Globally, gold rose 0.7 per cent to USD 1,236.93 an ounce in Singapore.