Gold for March delivery on the MCX was trading at Rs 29,853, dipping below the Rs 30,000 mark. Silver for March delivery on the other hand was trading at Rs 47,176, down Rs 611 over Wednesday's close.

On Wednesday the US Federal Reserve Minutes revealed that the Fed was on course to taper more, unless there was an economic surprise.

More tapering of QE3 means that there would be less liquidity around the globe and less liquidity is not good news for gold.

The US Fed began tapering of its asset purchase programme by $10 billion in December last year and trimmed another $10 billion in Jan this year.

After falling for the first time in 12 years in 2013, this year gold prices have shown some signs of gaining ground, though the Fed's ongoing taper programme could continue to put the precious metal under pressure. Check gold rates here

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