Gold futures were on track to post a sixth straight decline Friday as several reports of a possible bailout extension for Greece dulled investment demand for the precious metal.
Prices were poised for their first weekly loss in three weeks, trading down roughly 2.6% from last Friday’s settlement as investors attempted to parse a series of unconfirmed reports suggesting that Greece’s international creditors are considering granting an extension of the country’s bailout program.
Greece has been given a Monday deadline to reach an economic-reform agreement with its creditors ahead of key repayment due next week.
August gold GCQ5, +0.03% fell 60 cents to trade at $1,171.20 an ounce on Comex. On Thursday, prices settled at $1,171.80, which marked their fifth consecutive slide, based on the on the most-active contracts.
September silver SIU5, -0.45% was also down 5.1 cents, or 0.3%, at $15.79 an ounce, on track for a 2% weekly decline.
“The gold price is literally responding to every headline which is developing on the Greece situation,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, adding that the situation “remains very fragile.”
Data on Friday showed that U.S. consumer sentiment climbed in June to 96.1 — a five-month high.
Against that backdrop, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.36% was up about 0.5%. A strong dollar can weigh on dollar-denominated gold.
In other metals, September copper HGU5, +0.38% gained 1.8 cents, or 0.7%, to $2.637 a pound, set for a weekly gain of more than 2%.
October platinum PLV5, -0.61% traded at $1,076.80 an ounce, down $6.90, or 0.6%. Prices were down around 1% for the week, based on the most-active contracts. September palladium PAU5, -0.66% shed $6.25, or 0.9%, to $673 an ounce, down roughly 4.9% on the week.
