Mumbai: India gold traders continued to pick up bargains on Monday as a firm rupee made the dollar-quoted yellow metal cheaper, and prices stayed below the keenly-watched Rs17,000 mark, dealers said.

“We have been doing good business in the last couple of sessions... we filled few orders at $1,097-1,098 (an ounce) on Friday and today at $1,100-1,103,” said a dealer with a private bank in Mumbai.

The Indian rupee rose to its highest in a month on Monday, tracking strong regional currencies and as foreign banks bought the local currency to arbitrage in the offshore non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market.

International spot gold traded at $1,110.70/1,111.50 an ounce as against 1,096.35/1,098.35 in the previous session, while gold February contract was trading at Rs16,742 at 2:44pm.

“We have advanced orders placed at around $1,080 and people are buying outright,” said another dealer with a private bank.

Traders said gold sales rebounded in December as easing prices prompted buyers to stock up for wedding demand.

“We saw good business in the month of December, gold below Rs17,000 is always an attractive price for traders,” said the private bank dealer.

India’s gold imports in December jumped to 32-35 tonnes provisionally from 3 tonnes a year ago, the head of Bombay Bullion Association (BBA) said on 1 January.