Gold Ends Lower With Focus On Greece

(RTTNews) - Gold futures ended lower on Friday, after reports said the eurozone finance ministers have reached a broad consensus in the the Greek debt crisis although no official statement has been released as yet.

For the week, gold futures shed about 1.8 percent.

The finance ministers of eurozone countries are meeting in Brussels to resolve the financial problems related to Greece's bailout funding program. Yesterday, the talks had run into deep trouble with Germany rejecting a Greek proposal to extend its bailout funding terms for six months.

A Wall Street Journal report said the finance ministers of the eurozone countries were looking into the measures Greece would take to get continued assistance from the bloc. Nevertheless, the Journal also said at least two officials of the bloc refused to confirm if any consensus had been reached or if any deal was on the cards.

Earlier in the day, gold traded flat but remained above $1200 an ounce amid speculation that another unusually cold winter might hurt the U.S. economic recovery. Analysts point out that the Federal Reserve might delay hiking interest rates if bitter cold weather persists and produce the kind of economic lull that temporarily derail recovery.

Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, shed $2.70 or 0.2 percent to settle at $1,204.90 an ounce, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday.

Gold for April delivery scaled an intraday high of $1,215.30 and a low of $1,201.20 an ounce.

On Wednesday, gold ended at $1,207.60 an ounce, up $7.40 or 0.6 percent, after Germany rejected a Greek proposal to extend its bailout terms for six months. The precious metal also found support with the Federal Reserve indicating no hurry to hike rates after the release of its minutes of January meeting.

Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved up to 769.46 tons from its previous close of 767.96 tons on Thursday.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 94.09 on Friday, down from its previous close of 94.40 on Thursday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 94.79 intraday and a low of 94.06.

The euro trended higher against the dollar at $1.1405 on Friday, as compared to its previous close of $1.1368 on Thursday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.1426 intraday and a low of $1.1282.

In economic news, eurozone business activity accelerated for the third straight month to hit a seven-month high in February on stronger demand, raising hopes of recovery gaining strength, flash data from Markit Economics showed Friday. New order growth also prompted firms to raise their staffing levels at the fastest pace since 2011. The composite output index rose to 53.5 in February from 52.6 in January. It was also above the expected score of 53.

Germany's private sector output grew at the strongest pace in seven months in February, flash data from Markit Economics showed Friday. The composite output index came in at 54.3 in February, up from 53.5 in January.

The French private sector expanded at the fastest rate in three-and-a-half years in February, flash data from Markit Economics showed Friday. The composite output index rose to 52.2 in February from 49.3 in January, more than the 49.8 reading expected by economists. This marked a forty-two month high.

Germany's producer prices in January declined at the fastest pace since early 2010, exceeding economists' prediction, figures from Destatis showed Friday. The prouder price index dropped 2.2 percent year-on-year in January, following a 1.7 percent fall in the previous month. Economists had forecast a 2.0 percent decline for the month.

The U.K. budget surplus hit a seven-year high in January on rising personal income tax, signaling that the government is set to achieve the target before the general election in May.

Meanwhile, retail sales declined slightly more-than-expected in January, marking the first fall in four months on weak food and clothing sales.

Net borrowing excluding public sector banks totaled -GBP 8.8 billion in January, an increase of 34.9 percent from last year, the Office for National Statistics said Friday. Nonetheless, the surplus was slightly below the GBP 9 billion predicted by economists.

Another report from the ONS showed that retail sales fell for the first time in four months in January. Sales including automotive fuel were down 0.3 percent from the previous month. Economists had forecast sales to drop 0.2 percent after a 0.2 percent rise in December.