Gold futures were lower in European trade on Friday, as Greek political progress and a stronger greenback dampened demand for the precious metal On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Gold futures for June delivery traded at USD1582.55 a troy ounce falling 0.81%. It earlier traded at a session low USD1573.75 a troy ounce. Gold was likely to find support at USD1573.75 and resistance at USD1642.95. Launching the negative gold sentiment, Antonis Samaras, leader of Greece’s New Democracy Party, reported that the four rival parties have accepted terms of no exit from the euro region.. On Wednesday, Alexis Tsipras, the head of Greece’s second-biggest party Syriza, gave up his attempt to form a new government, pushing the debt-stricken country closer to its second election in a few weeks. On Thursday, the Department of Labor reported that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending May 5 fell to 367,000, defying expectations for an increase of 1,000 to 369,000. The previous week’s figure was revised up to 368,000 from 365,000. Meanwhile, a separate report indicted the U.S. trade deficit widened to USD51.8 billion in March from deficit of USD45.4 billion in February. Analysts had expected the U.S. trade deficit to widen to USD50.0 billion. Data also indicated that import prices in the U.S. fell more-than-expected in April, declining 0.5% after a 1.5% the previous month. Analysts had expected import prices to fall 0.1% in April. In other news, Friday, JP Morgan Chase & Co reported a USD2 billion trading loss lifting the greenback as investors sought the safety of the U.S. dollar thus depressing gold prices US Dollar Index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, rose 0.05% to trade at USD80.32. Elsewhere on the Comex, Silver for July delivery fell 1.87% to trade at USD28.633 a troy ounce while Copper for July delivery fell 1.37% to trade at USD3.640 a pound.

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