NEW DELHI: Gold prices on Thursday dropped Rs 248 to Rs 49,714 per 10 grams in the national capital, as investors and traders switched to riskier assets on new vaccine development, according to HDFC Securities.
The precious metal had closed at Rs 49,962 per 10 grams in the previous trade. Silver also declined by Rs 853 to Rs 61,184 per kg, compared to the previous close of Rs 62,037 per kg.
"Spot gold prices for 24 karat gold in Delhi fell below Rs 50,000 by Rs 248, reflecting overnight selling international gold prices," HDFC Securities Senior Analyst (Commodities) Tapan Patel said.
In the international market, gold was trading lower at USD 1,861 an ounce, while silver was down at USD 24.02 an ounce.
The gold prices traded lower as investors and traders switched to riskier assets on new vaccine development, Tapan added.
The prices are expected to trade sideways to down, as markets may continue to digest the vaccine optimism, he said.
On Wednesday, global drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech said their COVID-19 vaccine was found 95 per cent effective in the final analysis of the Phase-3 trial, paving the way for the companies to apply for emergency authorisation from the US regulators within days.