Gold down more than 1% after Greek elections

Investing.com - Gold fell more than 1% on Monday, as appetite for safe-haven assets weakened after jitters over the Greek election diminished.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery slumped $15.20, or 1.18%, to trade at $1,278.40 a troy ounce during U.S. morning hours.

Prices traded in a range between $1,276.90 and $1,300.20. On Friday, gold dipped $8.10, or 0.62%, to settle at $1,293.60.

Futures were likely to find support at $1,272.10, the low from January 20, and resistance at $1,303.00, the high from January 23.

Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery tumbled 35.5 cents, or 1.94%, to trade at $17.93 a troy ounce.

Greek leftist party Syriza formed a coalition government with the right-wing Independent Greeks party on Monday. Syriza won 149 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament, while the Independent Greeks took 13 seats, giving them a comfortable governing majority.

While the two parties are on opposite sides of the political spectrum, they both reject austerity measures connected with Greece's international bailout.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras has pledged to renegotiate the terms of Greece's €240 billion bailout and reverse many of the austerity measures imposed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, raising the possibility of a major conflict with euro zone partners.

The euro fell to an 11-year low of $1.1098 against the greenback before staging a rebound to $1.1266, as most market analysts expect Tsipras to eventually make compromises to appease international lenders and avoid the so-called "Grexit".

In addition, likely next Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has previously stated desire for Greece to remain in euro zone.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, dipped 0.17% to hit 95.16, after touching a more than 11-year high of 95.77 on Friday.

In the week ahead, investors will be awaiting the outcome of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve policy meeting for further clarification on when interest rates might start to rise.

Friday’s preliminary data on U.S. fourth quarter growth will also be in focus.

Gold is up almost 9% so far in 2015, while silver gained nearly 15%, as investors sought safety from volatility in global financial markets.

Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for March delivery jumped 3.1 cents, or 1.25%, to trade at $2.533 a pound.

Copper fell by as much as 8.1 cents to hit a session low of $2.420 earlier, a level not seen since June 2009, as traders were cautious after Greek anti-austerity party Syriza swept to victory in elections on Sunday, reviving concerns over the country's future in the euro zone.