Gold Ends Higher On Greece Worries

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended higher on Friday, with investors seeking the safe haven of the precious metal after global equity markets tracked lower over worries of a potential Greek debt repayment default and a regulatory change in China.

Gold futures dropped about a marginal 0.1 percent for the week.

Greek government bonds plummeted yesterday, with yield on two-year debt maturing in 2017 rising a near 27 percent. However, the notes pulled back on Friday.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble refused further concessions to Greece, while the International Monetary Fund ruled out giving the country any leeway on 1 billion euros debt repayments due by early May.

Greece is in imminent danger of defaulting if bailout aid fund from international creditors are not made available, even as discussions over an extension remained inconclusive.

Problems in the eurozone have raised gold's safe haven appeal, even as the dollar weakened against major counterparts this week.

Meanwhile, Chinese regulators expanded the supply of shares available for short sellers while clamping down on over-the-counter margin trading.

In economic news, a Labor Department report showed a modest increase in U.S. consumer prices in March, but were slightly less than economists' expectations. A Conference Board report showed its index of leading U.S. economic indicators for March continued to increase, but less than expected.

Nevertheless, consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved more than expected in April, a report from the University of Michigan showed Friday.

Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $5.10 or 0.4 percent to settle at $1,203.10 an ounce, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

Gold for June delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,207.80 and a low of $1,197.00 an ounce.

On Thursday, gold futures lipped $3.30 or 0.3 percent to settle at $1,198.00 an ounce, as investors mulled over a slew of economic data from the U.S., coupled with concerns over Greece on a potential default.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained unchanged at 736.08 tons, from its previous close of 734.29 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 97.53 on Friday, down from its previous close of 97.70 on Thursday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 97.82 intraday and a low of 97.00.

The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.0794 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.0762 in North American trade late Thursday. The euro scaled a high of $1.0848 intraday and a low of $1.0733.

On the economic front, a Labor Department report on Friday showed another modest increase in U.S. consumer prices in March, but were slightly less than economists' expectations. The consumer price index edged up 0.2 percent in March, matching the increase seen in February. Economists expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent.

Consumer sentiment in the U.S. improved more than expected in April, a report from the University of Michigan showed Friday. The preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for April came in at 95.9 compared to the final March reading of 93.0. Economists expected the index to edge up to 94.0.

The Conference Board's report on Friday showed continued increase at its index of leading U.S. economic indicators for March, but less than what economists expected. The leading economic index increased 0.2 percent in March following a downwardly revised 0.1 percent uptick in February. Economists expected the index to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.

Eurozone's consumer prices declined in March from a year ago, as estimated earlier, but prices rose from the previous month at the fastest rate in two years, latest figures from the statistical office Eurostat showed Friday.

The harmonized index of consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent annually after a 0.3 percent decline in February. That was in line with the flash estimate released by Eurostat on March 31. Prices decreased for the fourth consecutive month.

The euro area current account surplus declined in February largely due to a decrease in primary income, data published by the European Central Bank showed Friday. The current account surplus dropped to a seasonally adjusted EUR 26.4 billion from EUR 30.4 billion in January.

The U.K. unemployment rate fell to the lowest since 2008 and claimant count reached a 40-year low, labor market statistics released ahead of the General Elections showed Friday. The ILO jobless rate eased to 5.6 percent in three months to February from 5.8 percent in September to November, the Office for National Statistics said. The rate was the lowest since 2008 and matched economists' expectations.