By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY(MarketWatch) — Gold futures retreated in electronic trading on Monday, as the dollar strengthened against the euro while investors awaited fresh developments out of debt-stricken Greece.
Gold for August delivery GC1Q -0.01% shed $1.60, or 0.1%, to $1,537.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during in Asian trading hours.
Silver tracked gold lower, with the July contract SI1N -0.05% losing 5 cents, or 0.2%, to $35.70 an ounce.
“Price-wise, most commodities will be moving lower over the course of June, weighed down by the euro-crisis and the bid that the dollar will receive as a result,” analysts at MF Global said.
“More importantly, the global economy needs to see much lower energy prices in order to jump-start demand and to persuade central banks to finally drop their tighter money stance,” they said.
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The dollar gained on the euro, ahead of a Greek vote Tuesday that could pave the way for the nation to get another round of bailout funds.
The dollar index DXY +0.50% , which measures the performance of the U.S. unit against a basket of six other currencies, rose to 75.338 from 75.092 late Friday. Read more about currencies.
Copper, platinum
The broader metals complex diverged during Asian trading on Monday.
Copper for July delivery HG1N -0.93% fell 5 cents, or 1.2%, to $4.05 a pound.
The red metal is heavily imported by China and used in construction, and its decline came as Credit Suisse cut its forecast for China’s 2012 gross domestic product growth to 8.5% from 8.9%, while saying: “We believe persistent inflation, slowing growth and continued tightening is likely to play out, not only in the second half of 2011, but also well into 2012.”
July platinum PL1N +0.22% gained $1.90, or 0.1%, to $1,754.00 an ounce, while the September contract for sister metal palladium PA1U +0.39% gained $1.65 cents, or 0.2%, to $747.05 an ounce.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
