Gold and silver prices dropped at the bullion market on the back of fresh offloading by stockists and speculators,sparked by fresh bouts of uncertainty in European markets. The sudden resurfacing of sovereign debt problems in euro zone countries,which triggered broad-based selling of precious metals in overseas,mainly ignited profit selling in domestic market,traders said. Standard gold (99.5 per cent purity) declined by Rs 185 to end at Rs 20,240 per 10 grams from Thursday's closing level of Rs 20,425. Pure gold (99.9 per cent purity) also fell by a similar margin to close at Rs 20,335 per 10 grams from Rs 20,520 previously. Silver ready (.999 fineness) tanked by Rs 695 per kg to finish at Rs 41,185 from Rs 41,880 yesterday. In Europe,spot gold was bid at USD 1,384.45 an ounce in early trade as compared with USD 1,409.39 late in New York yesterday. US gold futures for December delivery down by USD 19.50 an ounce to USD 1,383.80. Spot silver was bid at USD 26.78 an ounce as against USD 27.75.
