A weaker rupee has supported the rise in gold prices in domestic markets. On MCX, June futures were up 1.43 per cent or Rs 618 to Rs 43,858 per gram, extending gains to the second day. Silver futures on MCX surged 3 per cent or Rs 1,300 to Rs 43,858 per kg.
Indian gold prices include 12.5 per cent import duty and 3 per cent GST.
Meanwhile, gold prices in global markets were lower on Friday against the strong gains in the previous session. Spot gold eased 0.1 per cent to $1,610.64 per ounce, following a 1.4 per cent jump in the previous session.
In this case a strong dollar had put pressure on the gold prices even as the rise in weekly US jobless claims also impacted the falling bullion. Among other precious metals, platinum slipped 0.2 per cent to $725.52 and silver declined 0.8 per cent to $14.42. The rates of gold climbed 8 per cent last week in global markets including India, depicting its safe-haven status as corornavirus cases continued to shoot up.
Reflecting the investor sentiment, the holdings of world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF) SPDR Gold Trust rose 0.33 per cent to 971.97 tonnes on Thursday.
According to analysts, gold is being supported by inflows into ETFs and stimulus measures taken by central banks and governments to mitigate the economic impact of the virus outbreak.