Gold was quoted weak at $263.10 per ounce at London as against the previous level of $264.45 due to negligible buying as dealers were waiting for the outcome of the January 23 gold auction by Bank of England, traders said.

In the local market, standard gold declined further by Rs 10 to close at Rs 4,425 as against the previous day's close of Rs 4,435. 22-carat gold was nominally quoted weak at Rs 4,095 from the last level of Rs 4,100. Raw silver (.916 fineness) and tenderable silver also hardened by a similar margin to close at Rs 7,615 and Rs 7,725 respectively from the last close of Rs 7,595 and Rs 7,705 respectively.

OILS,OILSEEDS:
In restricted activity, prices of both edible and non-edible oils moved in a narrow range on the oils and oilseeds market here and closed with marginal changes.

In the edible section, imported RBD palmolein was slightly better at Rs 198 as compared to yesterday's close of Rs 197, but groundnut oil continued to rule steady at Rs 315. Among non-edibles, castor oil commercial looked down to Rs 283 from Rs 284 and castorseed bold Madras eased to Rs 1,265 from Rs 1,270. However, linseed oil remained unchagned at the previous day's close of Rs 285.

In the features market, castorseed February delivery contract opened smartly higher at Rs 1,282 on good stockists' buying. Later, as export demand declined, stockists started off-loading their stocks and prices dropped sharply to close at Rs 1,277, however showing a marginal gain of Rs 3 over the last close of Rs 1,274. In castor oil international, prices of February delivery contract recovered by Rs 2 to close at Rs 301.