Gold breaches 16,000 mark for first time, silver at new peak

MUMBAI: Gold prices on Wednesday breached the Rs 16,000-mark for the first time in the bullion market here on persistent festive demand amid rise in the overseas markets, while silver continued to hit new highs.

Stockists and retailers continued to buy the precious metals amid the ongoing festivals, boosting their demand.

Silver rallied to an all-time peak on sustained industrial demand on the back of higher international advices.

Gold for October delivery, the front-month contract, rose to $1,064.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract earlier touched a high of $1,068.40 an ounce. December silver futures ended at $17.84 an ounce from $17.82.

In Tokyo today, gold hovered just below the record high levels as dollar declined to fresh 14-month lows against its major rivals.

In the local market, standard gold (99.5 purity) rose by Rs 105 per 10 grams to resume at Rs 16,035 from Monday's closing level of Rs 15,930.