Yellow metal falls amid easing debt woes

Gold prices ticked a little down today with Greece continues to negotiate over ‎‎budget reforms with its international and European creditors, while Asian ‎‎markets are set to re-open Wednesday.‎

Earlier on Tuesday, the yellow metal consolidated, attracting more demand ‎‎as a haven asset after IMF refused proposed reforms from Greece in a bid ‎‎to extend its bailout program.‎

Gold futures for June delivery on the Comex division of the New York ‎‎Mercantile Exchange fell 0.14 per cent to $1,312.10. The commodity futures ‎‎turned higher on Monday to hit the key $1,300 level, after U.S. data showed ‎‎that existing home sales declined more than expected in March. The latest figure reached its ‎‎lowest levels in two years, fuelling concerns over the housing market.‎

Gold remained under pressure during the week amid growing predictions for ‎‎the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates at July meeting. This would be ‎‎bearish for the gold, as the metal struggles to beat yield-bearing assets ‎‎when rates are higher.

The delay in implementing the Fed’s tightening cycle ‎‎creates bullish markets for gold, as it makes the relative cost of holding on ‎‎the precious metal little lower.‎

In the meantime, copper for July delivery held steady at $2.543 a pound, ‎‎while silver futures for the front month delivery gained 0.23 per cent to ‎‎‎$16.145 a troy ounce.‎

Elsewhere, according to National Association of Realtors, existing home ‎‎sales in the United States grew 4.1 per cent to score 6.12 million units in ‎‎May from 5.98 million in the prior month.‎