Gold climbs as equities ease, dollar
strength caps gains
Gold prices gained some ground on Tuesday, but still remained vulnerable as the U.S dollar was trading near nine-year highs against a basket of other major currencies, undermining the metal's appeal as hedge.
Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1188.10 an ounce by 07:20 GMT.
Asian shares were weaker on Tuesday, as political uncertainty in Greece made investors less willing to take risks in the final trading days of 2014.
Safe-haven demand strengthened after Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Monday that he will recommend parliamentary elections are held on January 25, almost 18 months before his coalition's term was due to end.
Meanwhile, the dollar hovered near a 29 month high against the euro on Tuesday, after a Greek vote triggered the dissolution of the country's parliament,
The dollar index was close to its highest since April 2006.
Gold slumped 28% in 2013 as investor demand waned on the back of robust U.S. Economy and better yielding stocks
"The decline in stocks is triggering some bids for gold but the bigger influence on price is still the dollar”, said a precious metals trader in Singapore
For the year, gold is down about 1.5%, hurt by a stronger dollar and expectations of interest rate hike in U.S
The U.S dollar index, which measures the greenback against basket of six major currencies, was steady at 90.55, not far from the nine year high of 90.66 hit overnight.
Tradings were expected to remain low this week due to New Year's holiday.
Apart from gold, silver gained 0.99% to $15.935 a troy ounce and copper has gained 0.025% to $2.8495 a pound.
| Precious metals | Price | Change | %change | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | $1186.90 (gain) | 5.00 | 0.42% | 32973 |
| Silver | $15.915 (gain) | 0.136 | 0.86% | 4860 |
| Copper | $2.846 (gain) | 0.024 | 0.85% | 9237 |
| Platinum | $1204.6 (gain) | 2.90 | 0.24% | 318 |
| Palladium | $812.80 (gain) | 0.80 | 0.10% | 272 |
