Gold importers wary of new deals on weak rupee

Gold importers in India, the world's biggest buyer, refrained from striking new deals as a weaker rupee supported the yellow metal.

* India has been trying to curb imports of gold, which has been called a dead investment by the federal government, to put a lid on record high current account deficit by raising import duty by 50 percent to 6 percent in January.

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* At 2:56 p.m., the actively traded gold for April delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.05 percent lower at Rs 29,460 per 10 gram.

* The rupee, which traded weaker on Wednesday, plays an important role in determining the landed cost of the dollar-quoted yellow metal.

* "Demand is slow as there is liquidity crisis. Sales could be under pressure due to non-performance in equity markets," said Prithviraj Kothari, director with Mumbai-based wholesaler RiddhiSiddhi Bullions.

* Weddings and festivals will start next month and continue until early June.

* In the overseas market, gold traded in a barely three-dollar range, holding near a 1-1/2-week high it hit in the previous session when Germany's central bank expressed concerns about the euro zone crisis and the European Central Bank's moves to stem it.

* Silver for May delivery was 0.17 percent lower at Rs 54,848 per kg.