India gold eases from record high; spot buying retreats

India gold futures eased a tad from their record high on Friday afternoon following foreign markets and a stronger rupee, and physical buying retreated as traders sought lower prices to stock for the next week's festival and weddings, dealers said.

At 3:11 pm, the most-active gold for June delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was trading 0.17% lower at Rs 22,245 per 10 grams, a tad lower from the record high of Rs 22,349 struck on Thursday.

"There are no big deals today as the market is holding at higher level," said a dealer with the state-run bullion importing bank.

"They are waiting for levels of USD 1,511," said the dealer.

Silver and gold in the overseas market were within sight of historic highs and could resume an uptrend as the US dollar held near three-year lows against a basket of currencies on hopes US monetary policy would stay ultra-loose, keeping inflationary price pressures high.

A stronger rupee makes the dollar-quoted yellow metal cheaper. The Indian rupee was marginally stronger on Friday on the back of broad dollar losses overseas, but payments for oil imports capped the gains.

India, the world's largest buyer of bullion, celebrates the festival of Akshaya Tritiya next week, when demand for bullion goes up.