Gold prices continued its upward journey in the Indian bullion market in the wake of the bullish mood on the yellow metal in the overseas market.

Bullion dealers said higher overseas market advices have led traders to stock more gold, leading the metal to end Rs 5 higher at Rs 8,725 per ten gram.

Standard gold and ornaments closed up by Rs 5 each at Rs 8,725 and Rs 8,575 per ten gram respectively while sovereign gained Rs 25 at Rs 7,75 per piece of 8 gram.

But silver prices came down thanks to reduced offtake by jewellery fabricators against fresh stocks arrival. Silver ready lacked necessary buying support and lost Rs 25 at Rs 17,325 per kilo but weekly-based delivery ended Rs 130 higher at Rs 17,550 per kilo on speculative buying.

"Retailers are picking up gold as there are lots overseas advices coming in favour of gold," said Sarin Shah, a leading jeweler in Mumbai.

In the global market, gold prices have gone up on the back of better than expected US employment data last week and firming crude oil futures.

India is the world's largest consumer of gold. Export of gold jewellery in 2006-07 has shown a growth of close to 35 per cent at $5.2 billion over $3.87 billion in 2005-06. Export of coloured gemstones at $246.48 million logged a growth of 6.08 per cent during 2006-07 as compared to $232.35 million in 2005-06.

Major destinations for Indian exports have been the US, UAE, Hong Kong, Belgium and Israel. In fact, the US, UAE and Hong Kong together accounted for over 70 per cent of the total exports in the previous fiscal year.