Gold prices slip below Rs 27,000 per 10 grams on global cues

Gold prices eased below the Rs 27,000-mark on Monday, falling Rs 178 to Rs 26,972 per 10 grams in futures trade amid a weak global trend.

At Multi Commodity Exchange, delivery in December contract was trading lower by Rs 178, or 0.66%, at Rs 26,972 per 10 grams in a business turnover of 377 lots.

Also, the precious metal for delivery in far-month February next year contracts shed Rs 173, or 0.63%, to Rs 27,185 per ten grams in 7 lots.

Analysts attributed the fall in gold futures to a weak global trend where it retreated from three-month high as signs of a buoyant US economy revived expectations that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates and data showed that China expanded quicker than economists forecast in the third quarter.

Globally, gold fell 0.5% to $1,171.38 an ounce in Singapore as the Federal Reserve moved closer to boosting US interest rates for the first time since 2006.