Gold gains in longest run in six weeks as leaders discuss Greece
Melbourne
GOLD gained for a third day, the longest run of advances in almost six weeks, as euro-area finance ministers meet amid an impasse over Greece's financing.
Talks between Greece and the rest of the euro area ended in acrimony on Monday as officials in Athens lashed out at demands that they stick to the previous government's austerity programme to retain financial support. Bullion climbed more than 3 per cent this year party as Greek woes renewed demand for haven assets.
"The ongoing discussions surrounding Greece and the possibility that there could be problems in resolving them are supporting the gold price," Thorsten Proettel, a commodities analyst at Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, said in Stuttgart. Bullion for immediate delivery rose 0.2 per cent to settle at US$1,232.55 an ounce by 5pm in New York, according to Bloomberg generic pricing.
Gold rose this year after posting two years of losses. Mr Proettel said that traders will probably focus this week on the outlook for US interest rates, with the Federal Reserve set to release minutes of its January meeting on Feb 18. Holdings in exchange-traded products fell for a fourth day as of Feb 13, declining 3.2 tonnes to 1,670.7 tonnes, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That capped the first weekly drop in a month after assets reached a four-month high on Feb 9.
Silver for immediate delivery fell 0.5 per cent to US$17.275 an ounce in London. Platinum was little changed at US$1,208.88 an ounce and palladium slid. BLOOMBERG
