Mumbai - Gold and silver futures on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) suffered heavy losses at the beginning of the trade Thursday amid fears of more selling in global markets under-pressure from sharp overnight losses in the US gold futures. While April gold contract shed Rs 153/10gm, May silver contract dropped Rs 491/kg.

In Asia, spot gold bounced on bargain hunting after breaking through USD930/oz and USD920 levels earlier Thursday. But a Singapore-based trader says more selling pressure is likely to come once London market opens. Spot gold last traded at USD933, down USD9.90 against the New York close.

In the US market, gold futures suffered their biggest one-day dollar decline in 28 years and other precious metals also tumbled sharply on long liquidation Wednesday in the aftermath of a smaller-than-expected rate cut from the Federal Open Market Committee that came after metals closed on Tuesday, traders and analysts said. The selling was part of overall weakness in commodities that included a loss of more than USD5 a barrel in Nymex April crude oil as of gold's close. Technical selling was triggered in the metals. Most active April gold tumbled USD59 to USD945.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. May silver plunged USD1.515 to USD18.445.

Benchmark MCX April gold opened down slightly by Rs 14 at Rs 12,357/10gm. The contract saw movement between Rs 12,172 and Rs 12,357/10gm. At 10.55 am IST, the gold contract traded down Rs 153 at Rs 12,218/10gm. Benchmark MCX May silver opened down sharply by Rs 120 at Rs 23,901/kg. The contract fluctuated between Rs 23,352and Rs 23,901/kg. At 10.56 am IST, the silver contract traded down Rs 491 at Rs 22,530/kg.

(With inputs from Dow Jones Newswire)