Gold Ends Lower Ahead Of Eurozone Meet Outcome On Greece

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended lower on Wednesday, as the dollar trended higher against a basket of some major currencies, after Germany dashed hopes of a deal with the new Greek government, fueling concerns about the fate of the eurozone.

Germany continues to remain firm and insist Greece accept the terms of its 2012 bailout or leave the eurozone. Meanwhile, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis is all set to meet eurozone finance ministers to discuss the bailout program later today.

The bailout program for Greece offered by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF expires on February 28. Greece has tried to renegotiate the bailout terms, but the EU thus far rejected the move while indicating the bailout conditions as generous.

Gold prices have been sliding in February even as the financial turmoil in the eurozone have boosted demand for safe haven assets. Analysts say a stronger dollar and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike are weighing on gold.

Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $12.60 or 1.0 percent to settle at $1,219.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.

Gold for April delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,238.70 and a low of $1,218.50 an ounce.

On Tuesday, gold ended at $1,232.20 an ounce, down $9.30 or 0.8 percent, amid anxiety over a potential Greek exit from the eurozone over its bailout program that is loaded with stringent austerity measures.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained unchanged at 773.31 tons on Wednesday from its previous close.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 95.01 on Wednesday, up from its previous close of 94.74 late Tuesday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 95.12 intraday and a low of 94.64.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.1296 on Wednesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.1321 late Tuesday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.1333 intraday and a low of $1.1281.

In economic news, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said on Tuesday that the U.K economy advanced at an accelerated rate in the November to January period. The think tank estimates that the GDP grew 0.7 percent in the three months ended January after the 0.5 percent increase in the three months ended December.

The German Chambers of Industry and Commerce, or DIHK, on Wednesday raised Germany's growth forecast for this year indicating lower oil prices and a weaker euro to have improved business sentiment. The growth forecast for this year was raised to 1.3 percent from 0.8 percent projected in October.

France's current account turned to a deficit in December from a surplus in the previous month, as the visible trade shortfall widened on the back of higher volume of oil imports, data from the Bank of France showed Wednesday.

The current account showed a deficit of EUR 1.9 billion versus a surplus of EUR 0.3 billion in November. The goods trade surplus widened to EUR 1.9 billion from EUR 1 billion, while the surplus in the services trade fell to EUR 0.1 billion from EUR 1.4 billion.