Gold futures rose on Monday, as investors were still concerned about Greece.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures
for April delivery tacked on $7.00, or 0.57%, to trade at $1,241.60 a
troy ounce during European morning hours. Prices held in a range between
$1,234.50 and $1,242.60, says Investing.com.
On Friday, gold hit $1,228.20, the lowest level since January 15, before ending at $1,234.60, down $28.10, or 2.23%. Futures were likely to find support at $1,228.20, the low from February 6, and resistance at $1,269.00, the high from February 6.
The euro zone currency remained pressured as concerns over Greek debt negotiations continued to weigh on market sentiment.
Greece after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Sunday that he would stick to plans to roll back austerity measures and reject an international bailout extension.
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s downgraded Greece to one notch above default late Friday and warned that time is running out for Athens to reach an agreement on a new financing program with creditors.
Athens main stock index main stock index sank almost 5%, while the yield on Greek 10-Year bonds rose sharply to trade above the 11%-level. Ahead of the election, the 10-year yield was below 9%.
At the same time, the dollar rallied after data on Friday showed that the U.S. economy added 257,000 jobs in January, far more than the 234,000 forecast by economists. December’s figure was revised to 329,000 from a previously reported 252,000.
Although the unemployment rate ticked up to 5.7% last month from December’s 5.6% hourly earnings and the participation rate both saw increases in January.
The positive data contributed to the view that the strengthening economic recovery may prompt the Fed to start raising rates from near zero levels as early as June.
Expectations of higher borrowing rates going forward is considered bearish for gold, as the precious metal struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates are on the rise.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery rallied 30.4 cents, or 1.82%, to trade at $16.99 a troy ounce. Silver tumbled 50.2 cents, or 2.92%, on Friday to settle at $16.69.
