(RTTNews) - The price of gold was extending losses Monday morning amid lingering concerns over the euro zone debt situation.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $21.40 to $1,562.60 an ounce. Last week, gold lost nearly 4 percent as the dollar continued to gain with investor sentiments impacted by the euro zone problems focused mainly on Greece and Spain. While the Greek political drama continued unabated, the Spanish banking system came under fire and government bond yields soared.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, were unchanged at 1,277.11 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was steady near its 4-month high versus the euro and a 3-week high against sterling. The buck was lingering around its monthly low versus the yen, while trading flat against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone industrial production declined unexpectedly in March, the latest figures from Eurostat showed. Industrial production fell 0.3 percent month-on-month in March, against economists' forecast for a 0.4 percent increase. This followed a 0.8 percent rise in February.
Germany's wholesale price inflation accelerated to 2.4 percent in April from 2.2 percent in March, the Federal Statistical Office said. Economists had forecast an increase to 2.3 percent. The uptick can mainly be attributed to higher wholesale prices of solid fuels and petroleum products.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
