Futures Pros – Gold futures extended gains on Monday, as ongoing concerns over the euro zone’s peripheral sovereign debt crisis and a broadly weaker U.S. dollar boosted the metal’s appeal as an alternative asset.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at USD1,505.95 a troy ounce during European morning trade, rising 0.7%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.92% to USD1,510.45 a troy ounce, the highest price since May 5.
The cost of insuring Greek and other peripheral euro zone debt against default jumped on Monday amid concerns over Greece's sovereign debt problems.
European Union leaders agreed in an unannounced meeting late Friday to ease the terms of the EUR110 billion bailout Greece received last year. The meeting came after a report in Germany’s Spiegel magazine that Greece may withdraw from the euro zone.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.55% to hit 74.75.
Gold prices often move inversely to the U.S. dollar, as gold becomes less expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Global financial service provider Goldman Sachs said on Friday that gold remained “one of its preferred commodities,” with prices still skewed to the upside.
“Uncertainty in currency markets and medium-term inflationary risk are likely to support investment demand,” the lender said in a report.
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery surged 3% to trade at a two-day high of USD36.70 a troy ounce during European morning trade, as investors took advantage of last week’s price-drop to enter the market.
Silver suffered its worst weekly decline since 1980 last week, plummeting 25.9%, after a series of increases in Comex margin requirements pushed small investors out of the silver market.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at USD1,505.95 a troy ounce during European morning trade, rising 0.7%.
It earlier rose as much as 0.92% to USD1,510.45 a troy ounce, the highest price since May 5.
The cost of insuring Greek and other peripheral euro zone debt against default jumped on Monday amid concerns over Greece's sovereign debt problems.
European Union leaders agreed in an unannounced meeting late Friday to ease the terms of the EUR110 billion bailout Greece received last year. The meeting came after a report in Germany’s Spiegel magazine that Greece may withdraw from the euro zone.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.55% to hit 74.75.
Gold prices often move inversely to the U.S. dollar, as gold becomes less expensive for buyers using other currencies.
Global financial service provider Goldman Sachs said on Friday that gold remained “one of its preferred commodities,” with prices still skewed to the upside.
“Uncertainty in currency markets and medium-term inflationary risk are likely to support investment demand,” the lender said in a report.
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery surged 3% to trade at a two-day high of USD36.70 a troy ounce during European morning trade, as investors took advantage of last week’s price-drop to enter the market.
Silver suffered its worst weekly decline since 1980 last week, plummeting 25.9%, after a series of increases in Comex margin requirements pushed small investors out of the silver market.