Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold fell 1.5% to $1,184 as rising optimism about a Greek debt deal boosted risk appetite and reduced demand for safe-haven assets.

Greece offered its creditors a new package of reforms at a meeting in Brussels today, including concessions on pensions, leading EU officials to believe an agreement may be possible after all. If the numbers add up, the IMF and ECB may release the funding needed by the nearly-broke nation to avoid default and potential expulsion from the Eurozone. Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said a deal could reached later in this week.

Hope for the Greek deal stoked risk appetite, rallying the Global Dow by more than 1.4%. U.S. equities also rose, with the Dow and S&P 500 adding around 0.7%, on strong housing data. Sales of existing homes surged more than 5% in May, the biggest gain since late 2009. U.S. Treasury bonds fell and the dollar gained, pressuring gold and other commodities denominated in the currency for international trade by making them more expensive to foreign buyers.

The other precious metals were mixed on the day, with platinum and palladium dropping 2.2% and 1.8%, respectively, while outlier silver edged up 0.2%.

At the Comex close: August gold fell $18.20 to $1,184; July silver added 4 cents to $16.15; July platinum dropped $24.80 to $1,062; and September palladium shed $10.80 to $696.60 an ounce.