gold

Gold moved up to its record highs on Monday as the talks over US debt ceiling are heating, and concerns over US possible default are growing.

While most investors believe a deal will be done, nervousness ahead of the decision is still pressuring the dollar, lifting U.S. Treasury yields and benefiting gold.

"This has reminded people of the risks involved in government bonds," said Mitsubishi analyst Matthew Turner. "For some investors, gold is a competitor as a safe-haven asset."

After 11 days of consecutive gains gold remained steady below its record high on Tuesday.

Experts believe gold appeal as a safe haven will remain as there is no short-term prospects for euro zone crisis solution while the White House was pursuing a fallback plan with Congress to raise the U.S. debt ceiling and avert a default that could plunge global financial markets into chaos.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,602.41 an ounce by 0325 GMT, off the record high of $1,607.01 reached on Monday.

U.S. gold GCcv1 was almost steady at $1,603.20.

Gold dropped slightly on growing investors’ appetite for risk after Greece looked increasingly likely to push through austerity measures, which offset the potentially bullish impact of a weaker dollar.

During the past three months gold has been benefiting from the investor concerns over Greece's potential to affect the rest of the euro zone economy, of the triple disaster in Japan and over the outlook for global economic growth.

Tuesday gold increased again to above $1,500 an ounce in Europe regaining its losses in line with oil prices as hopes that Greece's debt crisis may be contained tempered risk aversion.

Gold is closely linked to foreign exchange moves, as it is often traded as a currency.

Spot gold was bid at $1,501.39 an ounce at 1108 GMT, against $1,496.20 late in New York on Monday. U.S. gold futures for August delivery GCv1 rose $5.90 an ounce to $1,502.30.

Wednesday spot gold depreciated a little one easing concerns over Greek debt crisis, however weakening dollar provided some support.

Gold came off a four-week high of $1,540.50 hit in the previous session, as European officials met to sketch out options for a second bailout package for Greece, boosting investor risk appetite.

Gold prices steadied at their highest in about four weeks on Tuesday. The move was backed by investors’ concerns over the mess in Europe about a Greek debt default.

A Wall Street Journal report that Germany could make concessions on efforts to put together a bailout for Greece lifted the euro and boosted equities and base metals at the expense of perceived safe-havens such as gold or bonds.

During today’s trading session the gold has gained 0.5% to $1,500.10 an ounce, price for June gold also increased by 0.4 % to $1,498.20.  

Silver prices also went up and traded at $35.270 an ounce which is 1% more, as for the cash silver it gained 0.8 % and was traded at $35.285. 

Gold and silver took a steady pace on Thursday as a weaker dollar and growing oil prices further drove investors’ sentiment.

The dollar dropped as much as 0.4 percent against a basket of currencies, boosting buying interest in dollar-denominated commodities, while higher oil prices stoked inflation worries, increasing gold's appeal as a safe-haven investment.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,494.86 an ounce by 0617 GMT, below the 30-day average at $1,499.67. U.S. gold GCcv1 was nearly flat at $1,494.70.

On Tuesday precious metals gold and silver moved higher driven by light physical buying in Asia as investors scrutinize the currency market for direction.

The euro held steady above a seven-week low hit on Monday after euro zone finance ministers approved a three-year, 78-billion euro emergency loan program for Portugal, easing worries over the region's sovereign debt crisis.

"People don't have a clear idea where things will go from here, and are following the euro closely," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.

George Soros’s hedge fund unloaded most of its gold holdings during the first quarter. At the end of March the New-York based Soros Fund Management possessed 49,400 shares of the SPDR Gold Trust against 4.7 million shares held at the end of December. A 5 million share stake in the iShares Gold Trust at the end of December disappeared completely from the latest filing.

At the end of Q4 the firm’s gold ETF positions were valued at over $774 million. Now, at the end of Q1 the remaining gold position was worth less than $7 million.

In early Asian deals on Friday precious metals regained from their previous session lows.

At 0215 GMT, spot gold was up nearly 1% from its late New York level, rising $14.20 to $1,487.30 a troy ounce. Silver, whose 27% fall since last week has been the most severe since at least the mid-1990s, added 84 cents to $35.50/oz.

Gold reached a new record this Friday during Asian trading session and traded at $1,466.60 a troy ounce, and silver hit $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980. 

The coming meeting of the ECB has influenced not only the euro but gold as well. Gold fell 0.4% to $1,454.35 an ounce at 2:25 p.m. in Singapore, after striking a record of $1,461.91 on Wednesday. Volatility index of gold lowered more than 2% on Wednesday. 

Gold prices rose on Thursday on investors’ expectations to see if the international community would agree to a "no-fly" zone for Libya, while holdings in the world's largest silver exchange-traded fund struck a record high, reflecting greater interest in the cheaper precious metal.

Bullion traders remain focused on mounting unrest across the Arab world and renewed concern about euro zone debt -- factors that sent prices to an all-time high above $1,440 this week. Platinum and palladium were firmer but falling equities were likely to weigh on sentiment.

During its Friday session gold lost its gains under pressure from a drop in ETF holdings to their lowest since late January, a firm U.S. dollar and a lacklustre physical market.

Premiums for gold bars were steady in Hong Kong and Singapore, with no signs of buying interest from China after the Lunar New Year celebration. Unrest in Egypt could underpin sentiment, but there was hardly any physical buying in Asia related to the deadly turmoil.