FX:Gold inches up to 6-week high but gains limited
Forexpros - Gold prices edged up to a six-week high on Monday, but gains were capped by stronger U.S. dollar as uncertainty over a deal to restructure Greece’s debt and avert a default weighed on market sentiment.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,669.95 a troy ounce, up 0.36%.
It earlier climbed as much as 0.5% to hit USD1673.02 a troy ounce, the highest since December 13th.
Gold futures were likely to test support at USD1,644.92 a troy ounce, Friday's low and short-term resistance at USD1,678.04, the high of December 13.
Gold’s gains came ahead of a meeting of European Union finance ministers later in the day to discuss the terms of a debt restructuring package for Greece.
The restructuring agreement is a precondition for Athens to receive its next tranche of bailout funds in order to avert a default when a EUR14.4 billion bond redemption comes due on March 20.
On Sunday, Greece’s creditors said they had reached their maximum offer for a voluntary debt swop and said it was now up to the EU and the International Monetary Fund to agree on whether they can accept the deal.
However, trade remained thin as physical markets in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore were closed for the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery jumped 1.78% to trade at USD32.225 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery ticked up 0.17% to trade at USD3.753 a pound.
Data from the U.S. Mint on showed that sales of silver American Eagles totaled 5.3 million ounces on Friday, on track to surpass its record high of 6.4 million ounces set in January 2011.
