By Myra P. Saefong, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures on Tuesday looked to recoup what they lost in the previous session, finding support as a conference call of officials from the Group of Seven nations failed to show any real progress on the euro-zone crisis.
Gold for August delivery GCQ2 +0.37% rose $6.40, or 0.4%, to $1,620.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices traded as high as $1,624.80. They fell $8.20, or 0.5%, on Monday.
“Nothing concrete came from the G-7 meeting,” said Mark O’Byrne, executive director at GoldCore.
During the call, the G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to monitor developments in Europe closely, according to a brief statement from the U.S. Treasury.
Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi told reporters in Tokyo that officials agreed to work together over the debt crisis surrounding Greece and Spain, according to media reports. He added that a Greek exit wasn’t discussed, according to Bloomberg News.
“The unresolved euro crisis and deepening of the crisis, with it spreading like wildfire from Greece to Spain, means that gold will continue to be well supported at these levels — between $1,530 and $1,630 per ounce,” said O’Byrne.
Investors also looked ahead to Wednesday’s European Central Bank meeting. Most economists expect the ECB to hold its fire, though some believe weak economic data and a worsening debt crisis may prompt a rate cut or additional long-term refinancing operations. Read more the ECB preview.
On Tuesday, better-than-expected data on the services sector briefly limited gains in gold, dulling some safe-haven demand for precious metal.
The Institute for Supply Management reported that its services-sector index rose to 53.7% in May from 53.5% in April. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch expected the index to be unchanged last month. Read more on services-sector growth.
Dollar-denominated gold futures rose despite some strength in the greenback. The ICE dollar index DXY +0.27% traded at 82.751, up from 82.528 late Monday, while the euro EURUSD -0.4440% edged lower against the dollar, with the euro buying $1.2461, down from $1.2493. Read more on currencies.
Other major metals traded higher along with gold with the exception of copper, which edged lower.
July copper HGN2 -0.41% lost less than 0.1%, to $3.31 per pound.
Silver ranked as the biggest percentage gainer, with the July contract SIN2 +1.39% trading at $28.44 an ounce, up 43 cents, or 1.5%.
Platinum for July delivery PLN2 +0.82% rose $15.80, or 1.1%, to $1,443.10 an ounce and September palladium added $4.65, or 0.8%, to $618.55 an ounce.
Myra Saefong is a MarketWatch reporter based in San Francisco.
