LONDON – Spot gold is lower for a second consecutive session in Europe Wednesday and expected to remain volatile as investors digest the outcome of a European Union leaders' summit later in the global day. At 0934 GMT, spot gold was down 0.7% on the day at $1,555.70 a troy ounce. Widespread investor caution and a stronger dollar are weighing on the yellow metal Wednesday, after a former Greek prime minister said preparations for an exit from the euro zone are being considered. The news dented sentiment ahead of the European Union summit and sent investors out of the euro and into the dollar, damping the appeal of dollar-denominated assets such as gold. "Today we expect some jittery trading, with attention on the EU summit and the euro," said VTB Capital analyst Andrey Kryuchenkov. "For gold, this could be a real test of its safe haven properties should the market be left disappointed," he added. EU leaders are set to discuss measures to promote growth, prop up the banking sector and keep Greece in the euro zone. The rest of the precious metal complex is also lower Wednesday. At 0933 GMT, spot platinum was down 1.0% at $1,424.75/oz, exhibiting surprising weakness considering the resurgence of supply-side issues in South Africa. Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. (IMP.JO), the world's second largest producer, said Tuesday that mining has stopped at its key mine in Rustenburg after most workers didn't show up for their shift amid inter-union fighting. Last Friday, scuffles between rival unions led to one worker being shot. In protest, workers didn't show up for the night shift and stayed away Tuesday, the platinum mining company said. A previous labor dispute caused Impala to shut the mine in February for several weeks leading to the loss of tens of thousands of ounces of platinum output. Rustenburg will lose about 3,000 troy ounces of production a day while the mine remains shut. While the platinum price is so far not benefiting from the disruption, as the attention of investors remained glued to events in the euro zone, continued disruption should begin to support prices, said analysts. "Inter-union strike and unplanned production stoppages have the potential to eventually take platinum prices higher, in our view, and at the least should limit further near term losses," said James Steel of HSBC. In other metals Wednesday, spot silver was down 1.5% at $27.706/oz and spot palladium was 0.9% lower at $602/oz.

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