India gold buying resurfaces as prices steady near 2-wk low

India gold buying resurfaced on Wednesday afternoon as prices steadied near their lowest level in two weeks offsetting a weaker rupee even as the wedding season drew to a close in the world's largest consumer of the yellow metal, dealers said.

"There is renewed enthusiasm in market after markets crashed by USD 40 yesterday, I booked deals for 200 kgs from yesterday evening from USD 1,417 and below," said a dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai. The most-active gold for February delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange was trading 0.15% higher at Rs 20,480 per 10 grams at 1:27 pm, drawing away from a two-week low of Rs 20,423 struck in the previous session, a level last seen on December 23. International spot gold steadied from a more than two percent fall in the previous session, as bargain hunting on the physical market lent support and helped offset a stronger dollar. India's gold buying is expected to restart in mid-January, when harvest festivals are slated. Traders were undeterred by a weaker rupee, which made the dollar-quoted yellow metal expensive. The Indian rupee dropped to its lowest level in more than a week as the dollar climbed broadly against major currencies and Asian peers, while a shaky shares added to the downbeat mood. India's central bank has allowed 7 more banks to import gold and silver, bankers and trade officials said on Monday, a move that will smoothen supply in the world's largest consumer of the metals.