MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's wholesale gold demand cooled off on Monday afternoon as the yellow metal prices edged higher nearing the most-watched $1,100 an ounce-mark, after offtake picked up for the most part of last week, dealers said.

"Today the demand is dull, there was big offtake last week, when gold ferried below $1,075 (an ounce)," said a state-run bullion dealing bank dealer.

International spot gold, which guides the domestic market, was trading at $1,095.75/1,096.55, after hitting an intra-day high of $1,097.85 an ounce. The previous close was at $1,092.40/1,094.40.

"My order sheet is showing unexecuted deals below $1,050 levels," said the bank dealer.

However, a strong rupee, which makes the dollar-quoted asset aided sentiment, dealers added.

The rupee strengthened on some bunched up dollar inflows in early Monday trade, but the lack of directional cues from other regional peers and a choppy domestic stock market capped further gains.

(Reporting by Siddesh Mayenkar; Editing by Ramya Venugopal)

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