BLBG:Gold Climbs as Greek Debt Agreement Lifts Euro; Silver Advances
Gold climbed after euro-area finance ministers reached a pact on Greece’s debt burden, boosting the euro, and investors raised holdings in exchange-traded products to a record. Silver gained to the highest in almost seven weeks.
Spot gold advanced as much as 0.2 percent to $1,751.80 an ounce and traded at $1,749.80 at 12:12 p.m. in Singapore. The metal reached $1,754.65 on Nov. 23, the most expensive since Oct. 15. Holdings in ETPs expanded to 2,606.974 metric tons yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Cash silver rose as much as 0.4 percent to $34.285 an ounce, the highest level since Oct. 11.
The finance ministers, in the region’s fourth Greek crisis meeting in two weeks, agreed to cut the country’s interest rates and gave it more time to pay back rescue loans, while dismissing calls for a reduction in the amount that’s owed. The euro gained as much as 0.3 percent against the dollar. Gold, up 1.7 percent this month, tends to move inversely to the U.S. currency.
“As investors once again gain confidence in Europe after leaders give Greece another chance, that will help the euro and in turn gold,” said Wang Xiaoxi, an analyst at Beijing Capital Futures Co., a unit of the Chinese capital’s investment arm. “The market may try for a test of $1,800 this week.”
Gold for December delivery was little changed at $1,749.80 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Cash silver was at $34.175 an ounce. Spot platinum was little changed at $1,613.50 an ounce, and palladium gained 0.2 percent to $665.25 an ounce.
To contact the reporter on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
