Mumbai, Feb 5 : Gold prices fell moderately on Thursday after two days of surge, while silver posted a sharp fall of over 8 per cent.

MCX gold February futures fell 0.98 per cent to Rs 1,51,552 per 10 grams around 10.25 am on an intraday basis. Meanwhile, MCX silver March futures plummeted 8.39 per cent to Rs 2,46,283 per kg.

Gold and silver prices had risen around 6 per cent in the early morning trade but failed to sustain those levels.

Analysts said that the fall in gold and silver at the beginning of the week was checked as markets largely absorbed the nomination of Kevin Warsh as the new Fed Chairman.

Despite diplomatic talks between the US and Iran, safe-haven buying still continues due to rising tensions after US forces shot down an Iranian drone. Iran and the United States are scheduled to hold talks on Friday. The support to the rally on Wednesday also came from a partial US government shutdown and profit-taking in the dollar index from its highs.

The broader uptrend on COMEX Gold remains intact, with the pullback reflecting profit booking and healthy price digestion. Prices are trading below key moving averages, indicating short-term downward pressure and a corrective phase rather than a reversal of the broader trend, market watchers said.

Strong support is seen in the Rs 1,45,000 to Rs 1,48,000 zone for MCX gold futures, while resistance is anchored around the Rs 1,65,000 to Rs 1,75,000 zone.

The medium- to long-term outlook on silver stays constructive on steady industrial demand and structural supply constraints, despite elevated volatility, they added.

Analysts said silver has a support band at Rs 2,35,000 to Rs 2,50,000, while resistance was seen at the Rs 3,00,000-Rs 3,25,000 zone.

Structural supply deficits and steady industrial demand continue to underpin the bullish bias in silver. Persistent safe-haven demand, steady central-bank accumulation, and expectations of accommodative global monetary conditions continue to underpin prices of the yellow metal, a recent report noted.

/IANS