Mumbai - Supported by the gains in international bullion markets, gold and silver advanced further amid speculative buying during initial hours of trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) Wednesday. While gold futures traded up Rs eight/10gm, silver futures zoomed Rs 103/kg.

In the Asia market, gold was being propped up by buying-on-dips and the resilience in euro against the US dollar. A Tokyo-based trader said, gold still needs a correction before resuming run at USD1,000/oz threshold. Spot gold last traded at USD973.70/oz, up 50 cents against the New York close.

Earlier, in the US market, gold futures managed to gain but closed well down from the session highs Tuesday as the dollar staged a comeback when a Federal Reserve announcement curbed at least some of the enthusiasm for future easing of monetary policy, traders and analysts said. April gold rose USD4.20 to USD976 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, but ended USD11.80 below the USD987.80 peak. May silver fell 2.2 cents to USD19.763 an ounce.Benchmark MCX April gold opened slightly down by Re one at Rs 12,635/10gm. The contract later saw movement between Rs 12,632 and Rs 12,660/10gm. At 10.39 am IST, the gold contract was trading up Rs eight at Rs 12,644/10gm. Benchmark MCX May silver opened up Rs 88 at Rs 25,450/kg. The contract later fluctuated between Rs 25,442 and Rs 25,538/kg. At 10.40 am IST, the silver contract was trading up Rs 103 at Rs 25,475/kg.