Mumbai: India’s gold buying cooled off on Wednesday as prices jumped to hit a fresh record high, helped by a weak dollar overseas, while the flow of scrap eased, dealers said.

“Demand is dull till now... We saw good activity from the south until Monday... but all our centers are quiet after that,” said a dealer with a private bank in Mumbai.

The most-traded February contract struck a fresh record high of Rs18,240, before trading 1.24% higher at Rs18,179 per 10 grams at 2:37pm.

Dealers said physical offtake sustained until early this week as traders stocked up for the wedding season, that is expected to last till December-end.

“If gold drops some $10 (an ounce) from here then people would buy again,” said another dealer with a state-run bank in Mumbai.

India’s gold imports so far in November were around 15-18 tonnes, lower than 34 tonnes in November 2008, the head of a leading trade body said.

Dealers said the flow of scrap eased as sellers sought higher prices.

“I collected only 3 kgs yesterday... but it is very quiet now,” said Jitendra Kantilal, partner, Jugraj Kantilal & Co, which offered to buy scrap at Rs18,300.