MUMBAI: Silver prices shot up by Rs 260 per kilo and gold hardened by Rs 70 per 10 gram on the bullion market here today due to firm global trend coupled with sharp rise in dollar rates against the rupee. In the international market, silver rose sharply by $ 20 per troy ounce to $ 550 and gold shot up by about $ 5 to $ 297.80 per troy ounce.

Bombay Bullion Merchant Association president M L Damani attributed the sudden price increase of the precious metals to the uptrend in the international prices as well as the record 43-paise depreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar.

Ready silver (.999) opened smartly higher at Rs 7830 and shot up further to close at Rs 7865, showing a huge gain of Rs 265 over the last close. Similarly, tenderable silver rallied by Rs 265 to Rs 7870 from Rs 7605 while raw silver (.916) hardened by Rs 260 to end at Rs 7745 from yesterday's level of Rs 7485. Standard gold, after a better start at Rs 4220 rose further and finished at Rs 4230,displaying a smart rise of Rs 70 over the last close. 22-carat gold was nominally quoted sharply higher at Rs 3915 from Rs 3850, while ten-tola gold bar (.999) jumped up by Rs 800 to conclude at Rs 49,700 as against yesterday's close of Rs 48,900.

Govt may re-introduce Rs 1,000 note

NEW DELHI: The government is considering a proposal to re-introduce thousand rupee notes, the Rajya Sabha was informed today. Finance minister Yashwant Sinha, however, said that a final decision has not yet been taken. He said rupee one, two and five have been coinised with a view to increase production of higher denomination of notes. Sinha said the government has decided to improve coin supply position by importing additional quantity of 700 million pieces of one rupee coins and 300 million pieces of two rupee coins during the current year.

Lupin firms up JV in Russia

MUMBAI: Pharmaceutical major Lupin Laboratories Ltd has finalised a joint venture company under the name Lupin Pargati Ltd, located at StPetersburg, Russia. This JV is essentially for marketing Lupin's anti-TB/cephalosporins formulations across Russia. The company has teamed up with a local pharma distributor in Russia as the JV partner, wherein Lupin will have a majority stake.