June 26, 2015
Gold Trims Biggest Weekly Drop in Three Months on Greek Impasse
(Bloomberg)- Gold pared the biggest weekly decline since March before last-ditch talks at the weekend between Greece and its creditors over a debt bailout. Palladium fell, headed for a seventh week of losses in the longest losing streak since 2008.
Bullion for immediate delivery rose as much as 0.2 percent to $1,175.36 an ounce and traded at $1,174.45 at 12:36 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. That snapped five days of declines, the longest since March, and trimmed this week’s slump to 2.2 percent, the most since March 6.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the negotiations on Saturday had a decisive significance, and that European leaders agreed everything must be done to find a solution. Finance ministers will reconvene after talks were suspended on Thursday, with Greece facing a June 30 deadline for a payment to the International Monetary Fund. Holdings in bullion-backed exchange-traded products expanded 0.4 percent on Thursday, the most since January, to the highest level in almost four weeks.
“Gold absorbed yet another extension in the Greek debt talks saga,” James Steel, an analyst at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., wrote in a note. “Greek talks still have potential to impact the bullion markets.”
Saturday’s meeting will mark the fifth time finance chiefs in the currency union have met to discuss Greece in a week. French President Francois Hollande said Thursday there were still prospects a deal could be done, while Merkel said negotiations had regressed.
Dollar Index
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major currencies, headed for a 1 percent increase this week, snapping two weeks of losses.
Gold for August delivery added 0.2 percent to $1,173.80 on the Comex. Bullion of 99.99 percent purity fell as much as 0.2 percent to 234.71 yuan a gram ($1,175.69 an ounce) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, set for a weekly drop.
Spot palladium retreated 0.5 percent to $676.65 an ounce for a third day of declines after dropping to $672.38 on Thursday, the lowest in almost two years. The metal which entered a bear market this month is headed for a seventh week of losses, the longest streak since 2008.
Spot silver traded at $15.86 an ounce from $15.864 on Thursday, headed for a weekly decline of 1.6 percent, the fifth in six weeks. Platinum fell 0.4 percent to $1,080.50 an ounce for a sixth week of losses, the longest run since October 2013.