Gold touches historic peak of Rs 18,000

NEW DELHI: Surpassing all previous records, gold touched another historic peak of Rs 18,000 per 10 gram in the bullion market here on persistent buying by stockists for the ongoing marriage season amid firming global cues.

Standard gold and ornaments rose by Rs 220 each to Rs 18,000 and Rs 17,850 per 10 gram, respectively. Sovereign also rose by Rs 100 to set a new peak of Rs 13,800 per piece of eight gram.

Marketmen said firming trend in the overseas market supported the rise in yellow metal here. Gold in Asia traded 0.8% higher at 1,179.20 dollar an ounce, while in futures trading in New York, the metal surged to record 1,181.60 dollar an ounce.

Gold in the international markets touched record levels as the dollar extended declines amid fears that more central banks might purchase gold from IMF.

The metal has rallied 11% after India bought 200 metric tons of gold from the International Monetary Fund in October. Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Russia have followed suit since then.

"Gold is moving on fast pace ever since the central banks started purchasing the metal," said Rakesh Anand of R K Jeweller.

Meanwhile, silver ready rose by Rs 250 to Rs 29,000 and weekly-based delivery by Rs 160 to Rs 28,580 per kg, while silver coins continued to be asked around previous level of Rs 34,400 for buying and Rs 34,500 for selling of 100 pieces.

TOI

Jharkhand assembly polls: 35% voting till 1300 hrs

RANCHI: Around 35% voting was recorded till 1300 hrs on Wednesday in the first phase of elections to 26 assembly seats in Jharkhand.

Adequate security measures were put in place along with air surveillance and no untoward incidents have been reported from anywhere in the constituencies so far.

Prominent among the 470 candidates contesting the first phase are former speaker and Congress leader Alamgir Alam, ex-ministers Raghuvar Das, Dulal Bhuiyan (both BJP) and Aparna Sengupta (AIFB).

It is the second assembly election in Jharkhand after it was carved out from Bihar on November 15, 2000.

The first assembly election was held in 2005 which threw a hung Assembly that saw four governments in as many years, culminating in the imposition of President's rule.

USD 3-bn WB loan for road projects soon: Nath

STAFF WRITER 16:27 HRS IST

New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) India may soon get a USD 3-billion (about Rs 14,000 crore) loan from the World Bank for building roads in the country, Road and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said today.

"The World Bank President Robert B Zoellick is arriving here on December 2 and we are hopeful of getting clearance for USD 3 billion loan as sought by us for highway projects," Nath told PTI on the sidelines of a press conference today.

The Transport Ministry is working out the cost of various highway projects and may seek more funds from the World Bank during the meet, the minister said.

However, the mode of paying back the loan has not been finalised yet.

Sensex ends higher in choppy trade, RIL led support

TAFF WRITER 16:43 HRS IST

Mumbai, Nov 25 (PTI) In choppy trade, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex gained 68 points as investors reshuffled their portfolios on the eve of expiry in current month contracts in the derivatives segment.

The 30-share index closed higher by 67.87 points at 17,198.95 points.

The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 17.60 points to close at 5,108.15 points.

Brokers said every decline in the market was capped due to buying in fundametnally strong stocks in refinery, fast moving consumer goods, auto and banking sectors.

Asian markets closing with gains and firm opening in European stock markets also influenced trading sentiment to some extent, they added.

The trading sentiment turned volatile as investors reshuffled their holdings before the expiry in November month contract in futures and option segments tomorrow.

The heaviest on the Sensex, Reliance Industries, and tobacco major ITC saved the market from falling. RIL closed up 0.