Gold suffered its biggest fall in over 15 months and closed below the key ₹26,000 per 10 grams mark on the domestic bullion market on Friday on the back of massive selling by speculative traders and stockists.
Silver, too, plunged sharply to hit a four-year low due to panic unwinding by investors, coupled with sluggish industrial demand.
Standard gold (99.5 purity) plummeted by ₹620 to end at ₹25,960 per 10 grams against Thursday’s closing level of ₹26,580.
Pure gold (99.9 purity) also tanked by a similar margin to settle at ₹26,105 per 10 grams from ₹26,725.
Silver (.999 fineness) nosedived by a whopping ₹1,300 to end at ₹37,035 per kg from ₹38,335 on Thursday.
Domestic sentiment turned bearish and highly volatile after the shiny metal tanked to the lowest levels since 2010 in worldwide trade following strong US economic data amid heightened speculation over an early rate hike a day after the US Federal Reserve ended its historic monthly bond-buying plan.