Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold finished nearly flat in choppy trade, dipping 0.1% to hold above $1,185 after Greek reports of a pending debt deal were discredited by EU officials.

An unnamed Greek official told Bloomberg today that a "staff level" agreement was being drafted between Greece and creditors. The reported breakthrough helped to ease worries of a possible default by the cash-strapped nation, rallying the euro against the dollar and boosting Eurozone stocks. EU officials later denied that a deal is at hand, however, causing the markets to retrace some of their earlier movements.

Gold initially rose to test resistance near $1,190 on the dollar's early-session weakness before falling back as the Greek claims were discredited and the buck rebounded. A stronger dollar pressures gold and other commodities by making them more expensive to users of other currencies.

The other precious metals were mixed, with silver and platinum sliding 0.6% and o,5%, respectively, while palladium added 0.6%.

At the Comex close: June gold fell $1.30 to $1,185.60; July silver dropped 10 cents to $16.65; July platinum slid $5.10 to $1,119; and June palladium added $4.60, to $785 an ounce.