MW: Gold up, oil down on impasse in debt ceiling talks
By Sara Sjolin
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold for August delivery GC1Q +1.02% gained $16.20 Monday, or 1%, to $1617.60 an ounce, as debt issues on both side of the Atlantic continued to lure investors into safe-haven investments. Moody's Investor Service cut Greece's credit rating by three notches Monday morning and said a default is almost certain, while President Barack Obama and Congress failed to reach an agreement over the weekend to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. "The first words that come to mind regarding events on the financial markets over the past few days and weeks are terms such as 'uncertainty', 'crisis' or 'upsets'. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the classic safe haven, gold, is reaping the benefit of the mounting aversion to risk," analysts at Commerzbank Commodity Research said in a note published Monday. Crude oil for September delivery CL1U -0.83% shed 81 cents, or 0.8%, to $99.04 a barrel, on concerns that debt woes would dampen demand for oil. "Jittery nerves over the weekend caused by the U.S.' inability to reach an agreement over efforts to reduce its national debt are likely to keep upside to prices in check," analysts from Barclays Capital said in a note Monday.
