Dull day for precious metals

Strength in the U.S. dollar and a rise in equities dulling the metal's appeal

Bullion prices ended lower at Comex on Tuesday, 10 February 2015. Gold futures settled with a loss of more than $9 an ounce on Tuesday, with strength in the U.S. dollar and a rise in equities dulling the metal's appeal, but investors continue to keep an eye on ongoing turmoil in Greece. Crude oil prices were sharply lower today.

Gold for April delivery shed $9.30, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,232.20 an ounce on Comex.

March silver dropped almost 20 cents, or 1.2%, to $16.87 an ounce.

On Tuesday, the dollar bounced back from some losses seen a day earlier and U.S. stocks advanced on hopes for an agreement between Greece and its international creditors. Strength in the dollar and equities lured some investors away from gold.

Focus of the world market place is still on Greece's new government, which says it is abandoning a good portion of its heretofore agreed upon debt reduction and austerity measures. Those measures were a prerequisite for Greece to get more financing from the European Union. There is a EU and Greek officials meeting set for Wednesday on the matter. Germany is taking a hard line with Greece, saying the country needs to honor its previous obligations. Traders and investors are in a more risk averse mood this week as this situation plays out. There are worries Greece could exit the European Union, which would open the door to other, smaller EU countries doing the same.

Chinese inflation fell to a five-year low in January, mainly due to falling raw commodity prices led by crude oil, and weaker demand. China's consumer price index was up 0.8% in January, year-on-year. China also injected liquidity into its financial system for the seventh week in a row, in another effort to boost its economy.

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