(RTTNews) - The price of gold dived to a 8-month low Wednesday morning amid lingering worries over the political developments in the Greece.
Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, lost $22.50 to $1,534.60 an ounce, levels not seen since early July 2011. Yesterday, gold ended lower for a third session to settle at a near five-month low. The dollar continued to strengthen while the euro slipped further on political developments in Greece. The troubled nation is now surely headed for new elections in June, after failing to reach an agreement on a new coalition government.
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 near its one -month high against sterling. The buck was leveling off from its monthly low versus the yen, while trading flat against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, euro zone annual inflation for April was confirmed at 2.6 percent, down from 2.7 percent in March, final data from Eurostat showed. Nonetheless, inflation continues to stay above the European Central Bank's 'below, but close to 2 percent' target. Monthly inflation was 0.5 percent in April.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England said prospects for U.K. growth remain unusually uncertain. U.K. economic growth is set to remain subdued, while inflation is judged to be somewhat higher than expected three months ago, the BoE said in its quarterly Inflation Report published today.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Commerce Department is slated to release its report on housing starts at 8:30 am ET. Economists estimate housing starts for April to come in at 690,000 each, while building permits are expected to have declined to 725,000. In March, housing starts fell 5.8 percent to 654,000 compared to a 4.5 percent increase in building permits.
