Gold importers in India, the world's biggest buyer, refrained from striking new deals as a weaker rupee supported the yellow metal.

India has been trying to curb imports of gold, which has been called a dead investment by the federal government, to put a lid on record high current account deficit by raising import duty by 50 percent to 6 percent in January.

At 2:56 p.m., the actively traded gold for April delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.05 percent lower at 29,460 rupees per 10 gram.

The rupee, which traded weaker on Wednesday, plays an important role in determining the landed cost of the dollar-quoted yellow metal.

"Demand is slow as there is liquidity crisis. Sales could be under pressure due to non-performance in equity markets," said Prithviraj Kothari, director with Mumbai-based wholesaler RiddhiSiddhi Bullions.

Weddings and festivals will start next month and continue until early June.

In the overseas market, gold traded in a barely three-dollar range, holding near a 1-1/2-week high it hit in the previous session when Germany's central bank expressed concerns about the euro zone crisis and the European Central Bank's moves to stem it.

Silver for May delivery was 0.17 percent lower at 54,848 rupees per kg.