Gold Ends Below $1,200 With Focus On Greece, Fed Meet

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended lower Monday, as investors weighed China's move to provide an unexpected stimulus and on continued uncertainties over Greece's financial health. Markets were also focused on the Federal Reserve meet coming up next week, for hints over its plans for a interest rate hike.

The Fed is scheduled to meet over April 28-29, and although few expect a rate hike this month, the Fed could signal tightening is imminent this summer.

Markets were apprehensive of developments in Europe with lingering concerns over Greece. It is likely Greek banks may soon run out of collateral to access European Central Bank refinancing unless Athens reaches a deal over the release of another 7.2 billion euros in bailout funds from the European Union. A meeting of euro-area finance ministers will be held in Latvia on April 24.

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.

Meanwhile, in a bid to shore up its economy, China's central bank over the week end slashed its reserve requirement ratio for banks, or the amount of deposits banks require to hold as reserves, to 18.5% from 19.5%. China's economy grew at the slowest pace in six years during the fourth quarter.

Gold for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $9.40 or 0.8 percent to settle at $1,193.70 an ounce, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday.

Gold for June delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,209.00 and a low of $1,190.80 an ounce.

On Thursday, gold futures gained $5.10 or 0.4 percent to settle at $1,203.10 an ounce, with investors seeking its safe haven appeal after global equity markets tracked lower over worries of a potential Greek debt repayment default and a regulatory change in China.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved up to 739.06 tons from its previous close of 736.08 tons.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 97.97 on Monday, up from its previous close of 97.51 on Friday in late North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 98.07 intraday and a low of 97.33.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.0730 on Monday, as compared to its previous close of $1.0806 in North American trade late Friday. The euro scaled a high of $1.0821 intraday and a low of $1.0715.

Among other economic news, eurozone construction output declined for the first time in three months in February, Eurostat reported Monday. Construction output fell 1.8 percent in February from January, when it grew 1.6 percent. This was the first fall in three months and the biggest drop since September.

Germany's producer prices declined at a faster-than-expected pace in March, figures from Destatis showed Monday. The producer price index fell 1.7 percent year-over-year in March, surpassing economists' expectations for a 1.6 percent decrease.

The average asking price for a house in the United Kingdom was up 1.6 percent on month in April, property tracking website Rightmove said on Monday, coming in at a record 286,133 pounds. That follows the 1.0 percent increase in March.