Nifty hovers around 7950; gold near 9-month low

The market continues to be in sluggish mode ahead of the long weekend. The Nifty is hovering around 7950, down 12.20 points at 7952.60. The Sensex slips 35.05 points at 26595.46. About 1162 shares have advanced, 1430 shares declined, and 115 shares are unchanged. 

Wipro and Hero are up 2-3 percent. Other top gainers are Infosys, TCS and Coal India. Among the losers are Maruti, Tata Steel, GAIL, ONGC and ITC. 

Gold extended losses to trade near a nine-month low and looked likely to break below the key USD 1,200-an-ounce level, clobbered by a stronger dollar and lack of support from top buyer China. 

With the dollar at a four-year peak against a basket of major currencies, other precious metals also took a hit. Platinum tumbled to a five-year low, while silver retained sharp overnight losses to trade at its lowest since March 2010. 

A stronger US currency makes dollar-denominated precious metals more expensive for holders of other currencies. Worries about an interest rate rise in the United States have also hurt gold, a non-interest-bearing asset. More information please visit this site www.bigprofitbuzz.com