Gold dips on Fed worries

London (Jun 17)  Gold fell before the Federal Reserve ends a two-day meeting and as Greek debt talks remained deadlocked. Platinum extended a six-year low and palladium neared a bear market.

The Fed’s meeting concludes on Wednesday, amid speculation mixed US economic data and Greece’s debt crisis will complicate the central bank’s drive to raise interest rates. While futures traders predict policy makers will leave the key rate near zero, there may be more indication of when the first increase since 2006 will come.

“There is a lot of incentive to remain on the sidelines with high event risk from Fed meeting and the Greek talks,” Thorsten Proettel, a commodities analyst at Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Stuttgart, Germany, said by phone. “I don’t expect the Fed will jump this time, and Greece will probably achieve a last-minute deal, but the risk of volatility may deter some.”

Bullion for immediate delivery lost 0.2 percent to $1,179.76 an ounce by 10.11am in London, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Futures for August delivery fell 0.2 percent to $1,179.10 on the Comex in New York, where the volume of futures traded was 53 percent below the 100-day average for the time of day.

Higher borrowing costs curb gold’s allure because the metal doesn’t pay interest or give returns like other assets such as bonds and equities. The Fed has kept rates at a record low since 2008.

Greek talks

Even as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras intensified his criticism of the nation’s creditors, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would continue to do everything possible to keep the country in the euro. Finance ministers are due to meet on Thursday for further talks over a bailout deal.

Silver for immediate delivery retreated 0.3 percent to $15.9932 an ounce. Palladium lost 0.2 percent to $731.65 an ounce, and reached the lowest since March 31. The metal fell for a fifth day and is almost 20 percent below its September 1 close. Platinum declined 0.5 percent to $1,075.89 an ounce, after touching $1,073.15, the lowest since April 2009.

Palladium will probably record the smallest shortfall in four years in 2015, while platinum will come the closest to a balanced market in three as recovering supplies offset growing demand from carmakers, Johnson Matthey said in May.

Source: Bloomberg