India gold traders stay away on near-record prices

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India gold traders continued to refrain from taking fresh positions as prices stayed near record highs and the flow of scrap eased, dealers said.

"Demand continues to be slack even though we were running at a discount of 150 (rupees per 10 grams)," said Pinakin Vyas, chief manager-treasury, IndusInd Bank in Mumbai. "I have advanced orders at about $1,050 (an ounce).

The most-traded December contract was 0.24 percent higher at 16,628 rupees per 10 grams at 2:41 p.m., after hitting a record high of 16,677 rupees in the previous session.

The flow of scrap eased as consumers waited for higher prices, they added.

"About 100 kgs of gold must have landed in Zaveri bazaar in last two days, but now flows have slowed... they are now expecting 17,000 rupees (per 10 grams)," said Jitendra Kantilal, partner, Jugraj Kantilal & Co.

The futures trading on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) platform was halted for an hour between 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. due to a technical snag, an MCX spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Prem Udayabhanu)

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