Forexpros - Gold prices edged lower on Monday, tracking movements in the currency market as concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone reemerged following a summit of the Group of 20 nations, though losses were limited by spiking oil prices and ahead of a second liquidity boosting operation by the European Central Bank later in the week. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for April delivery traded at USD1,770.15 a troy ounce during early U.S. morning trade, declining 0.35%. It earlier fell by as much as 0.72% to trade at USD1,763.25 a troy ounce, the lowest since February 22. Futures were likely to find support at USD1,750.85 a troy ounce, the low from February 22 and resistance at USD1,788.85, February 23’s high and the highest since mid-November. Gold prices moved lower in tandem with the euro on Monday. Although the precious metal is often seen as a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty, the increasingly grave debt crisis in the euro zone has done little to buoy appetite in gold in recent months. A weakening euro and stronger dollar have weighed on gold instead. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.28% to trade at 78.69. Gold remains more sensitive to moves in the euro/dollar exchange rate in the short term than to rising risk aversion, which in the past has been a positive driver of prices. The euro’s losses came after a weekend meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers failed to make progress on increasing the size of the International Monetary Fund’s lending capacity. Markets were also jittery as Germany’s parliament was preparing to vote later Monday on a EUR130 billion bailout package for Greece, which was agreed upon by euro zone finance ministers last week. Ratings agency Moody’s said earlier that while a second bailout for Greece was an important step forward, the risk of a default remained high. Meanwhile, some modest profit taking also weighed, following the metal’s recent run of gains, while some market participants noted strong resistance in front of the USD1,800-an-ounce level. In a report, technical analysts at Standard Chartered said that while a rise through gold's November peak at USD1,802 would open up the path to revisit last year's record high near USD1,920, short-term momentum indicators are bearish. Losses were limited as the international tensions over Iran's nuclear program boosted oil prices to the highest level since May. Higher oil prices tend to benefit gold as it enhances its appeal as a hedge against oil-led inflation. Swiss lender UBS said in a report earlier that rising oil prices could send gold “much higher� as higher energy costs will likely curb global growth. “In addition to geopolitical risk premium and the impact of elevated oil prices on inflation expectations, the potential for expensive oil to put a drag on global growth also has upside implications for gold,� the bank said earlier. Prices also found support as investors eyed the launch of a second liquidity operation by the ECB later in the week. The ECB’s second three-year long-term refinancing operation, known as an LTRO, is scheduled for February 29 and could total nearly EUR500 billion, according to market analysts. Gold can benefit from such an environment of easy money because of expectations that ample liquidity would put a damper on the value of paper currencies and boost inflation. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery added 0.15% to trade at USD35.45 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery retreated 0.69% to trade at USD3.843 a pound.

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