Gold falls further on profit-taking

Analysts expect bouts of profit-taking but concur that the overall intermediate trend is still up.

The yellow metal fell 2.5 per cent in the previous session.0

8220;It is healthy profit-taking in a bull run,8221; said Amar Singh,head of commodities research with Angel Commodities in Mumbai.

8220;But buyers would be cautious to enter the market after yesterday8217;s fall,8221; Singh added.

The Indian rupee edged higher on Wednesday as gains in domestic shares eased concerns about outflows,but the dollar8217;s strength overseas and demand from importers prevented a sharper rise.

A firm rupee makes the dollar-denominated gold cheaper.

8220;The correlation of gold with stock markets is clear,8221; said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan,director with Comtrendz Risk Management in Mumbai.

8220;If stocks continue to go up,gold may see some correction to 15,200 rupees,8221; Thiagrajan added.

Debjyoti Chatterjee,associate vice-president with MAPE ADMISI Research,expects the benchmark contract to correct from current levels and trade in the range of 15,490-15,300 rupees.

The April contract was 0.70 per cent lower at 15,376 rupees per 10 grams at 11:30 a.m..

Open interest for April gold on MCX was at 18,117 lots,up from 18,084 a day earlier. Volume on Tuesday was 76.21 kg.