Demand for safe haven assets was high ahead of today’s crucial confidence vote in the Greek parliament and after disappointing employment report release by the US Department of Labor this afternoon.
However, gold was in decline as investors opted to buy the US dollar, an alternative investment to the yellow metal, to protect wealth amid economic uncertainty.
Starting with the US, the closely watched non-farm payrolls report from the US government revealed a gain of 80,000 in payrolls for October, less than the 95,000 increase expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.
In the meantime, Greek MPs are preparing to decide on the future of the current government led by Prime Minister George Papandreou, who yesterday scrapped plans to hold a referendum on whether Greece should remain in the euro zone.
Even though the controversial referendum that could potentially lead to the breakup of the euro zone has now been called off, continuing uncertainty in Greece makes investors reluctant to invest in riskier assets.
Gold traded at US$1,753/oz, down US$11 from Thursday’s close. Silver fell 35 cents to US$34.13/oz and platinum dropped US$8 to US$1,625/oz.
Today’s top risers in the sector were:
Caledonia Mining (LON:CMCL), up 9.5 percent at midday
Hambledon Mining (LON:HMB), up 7.5 percent at 3.62 pence
Kryso Resources (LON:KYS), up 7 percent at 31.9 pence
Yamana Gold (LON:YAU), up 5 percent at 1,030 pence
Medusa Mining (LON:MML), up 3 percent at 440 pence
The top fallers were:
Alecto Minerals (LON:ALO), down 7.5 percent at 1.85 pence at midday
African Consolidated Resources (LON:AFCR), down 3.5 percent at 3.13 pence
GoldStone Resources (LON:GRL), down 3.5 percent at 6.51 pence
Solomon Gold (LON:SOLG), down 2.5 percent at 12.82 pence
Trans-Siberian Gold (LON:TSG), down 2.5 percent at 78.2 pence
Gold prices ease as US dollar rallies ahead of Greek vote
Last updated: 02:14 05 Nov 2011 AEDT, First published: 03:14 05 Nov 2011 AEDT