MUMBAI, Sept. 24 -- Three weeks before Navratri, the moment jewellers have spent much of the year preparing for, gold got cheaper on Wednesday. The 24-karat benchmark slipped Rs.49 to Rs.15,283 per gram in base markets, pulling bullion to its lowest level in two weeks as a strengthening dollar and hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve pressed Comex prices down 0.59% to $4,292.90 per troy ounce.

The correction erases most of the gains recorded in the gold rate in India on September 22, when a brief softening in the dollar and elevated geopolitical risk premium had pushed 24K toward Rs.15,332 per gram in Mumbai. Wednesday's move lower was led by institutional selling on Comex as traders unwound positions ahead of end-of-quarter repos...