India gold nears record highs; profit-taking seen

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India gold futures traded near their record highs on Tuesday helped by a weaker rupee, making the dollar-quoted asset expensive, analysts said.

The most-traded December contract was 0.17% higher at Rs 17,580 per 10 grams at 10:47 am, near the record high of Rs 17,624 struck in the previous session.

The partially convertible Indian rupee weakened as lower Asian shares and a stronger dollar overseas soured sentiment.

However, analysts said, gold might face profit-taking later in the session after the recent rise.

"There could be profit-taking after the recent rise, but further moves would be data-dependent," said Aurobinda Prasad, head of research with Karvy Comtrade.

The contract has risen about 10% since the start of the month.

"Range would be Rs 17,450-17,650 in gold," said Abhishek Chauhan, technical analyst, Angel Commodities.

Investors would await the release of US GDP data and consumer confidence for November due later on Tuesday.

Open interest for December gold on MCX was at 15,671 lots, up from 15,290 a day earlier.