GOLD prices have dropped to a near-three-month low to below $600 an ounce, and continue to be dragged down by falling crude oil prices. The decline � to a low of $574/oz at one point � seems to have spurred gold sales in Gujarat.

Gujarat, where daily trading has jumped almost 200 per cent to over 1,500 kg, despite the inauspicious period of Shraddh, when consumers usually avoid gold purchases.