By IRA IOSEBASHVILI
June 23, 2015 10:09 a.m. ET
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Gold prices fell Tuesday, as investors sold the precious metal amid signs that Greece is nearing a deal with its creditors.
Gold for August delivery, the most actively traded contract, was recently down 0.6% at $1,177.50 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Silver for July was down 1.9% at $15.84 a troy ounce after touching a near-two-month low in early trade.
Greece’s creditors were scrutinizing the country’s fiscal promises on Tuesday ahead of a crucial meeting of eurozone finance ministers on Wednesday that could determine whether the country receives last-minute bailout financing before the end of June. The news prompted those who had piled into gold in recent days to sell the safe-haven metal, as the crisis appears to be nearing its end. Some investors buy gold in times of economic and political uncertainty, believing that it will hold up better than other assets in frothy markets.
“Nothing here is bullish gold,” said Ira Epstein, a strategist at Linn & Associates LLC. “Prices are heading lower.”
Gold prices are also feeling the brunt of a stronger dollar. Gold is priced in the U.S. currency and becomes more expensive to foreign buyers when the dollar rises. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of 16 currencies, was recently up 0.9% at 86.64, near a two-week high.
In other markets, platinum futures rebounded from a six-year low on better-than-expected manufacturing numbers out of the eurozone. The metal is used as a component in automotive-emission filters for European cars, making it sensitive to economic data out of the region. Platinum for July delivery rose 0.5% to $1,066 a troy ounce, after settling at $1,060.60 an ounce on Monday, the lowest since March 2009.
Write to Ira Iosebashvili at ira.iosebashvili@wsj.com
