Mumbai, Feb 29: Safe-haven buying pushed up gold to Rs 12,525 per 10 gram and silver to Rs 24,130 per kg on the bullion market during opening trade triggered by weak bourses after Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a loan waiver of Rs 60,000 crore for farmers in his budget speech.

Standard Gold (99.5 purity) flared up by Rs 200 per 10 grams to Rs 12,525 from the yesterday's closing level of Rs 12,325.

Pure Gold (99.9 purity) also rose to Rs 12,575 from Rs 12,375 yesterday's close.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) jumped to Rs 24,130 from Rs 23,655 previouse close.

Stock market benchmark Sensex today fell by over 200 points in the afternoon after the government proposed to waive agricultural loans given by scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and cooperative credit institutions to farmers up to March 31, 2007 and due for December 31.

In New York, safe-haven buying and momentum behind commodities in general sent precious metals futures to new highs yesterday as economic concerns continued, the dollar fell, oil rose and equities sank, analysts said.

Comex April gold rose USD 6.50 to settle at USD 967.50 an ounce after hitting a contract high of USD 970. It extended that high to USD 975 in after-hours trading.

"Gold has been that hedge against these uncertain times," said a dealer, adding expectations of lower interest rates would further weaken the dollar, also boosted gold.

Comex May silver settled 37.7 cents higher at USD 19.710 an ounce after setting a contract high USD 19.965. Nearby March silver rose 42 cents to settle at USD 19.630 after reaching USD 19.845, the highest front-month price since November 1980.