Mixed finish for bullions

Gold drops for fourth session in a row

It was mixed finish for bullions on Wednesday, 24 June 2015 at Comex. Gold futures settled lower on Wednesday for a fourth session in a row as investors looked at first quarter data on the U.S. economy to gauge the timing of the Federal Reserve's interest-rate hike and kept an eye on Greece's stalled debt negotiations.

Gold for August delivery on Comex fell $3.70, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,172.90 an ounce. Prices settled at their lowest level since June 5.

July silver rose 11.6 cents, or 0.7 %, to $15.853 an ounce, rebounding after Tuesday's 2.5% decline.

The markets are focused on Greece this week, mainly because there is not much else happening on the world markets front. Greece and European Union officials are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels on Wednesday to try to finalize a debt-restructuring and new funding deal. Reports late Wednesday said the EU and IMF had rejected Greece's latest proposal, but the markets did not show much reaction to that news. The two negotiating parties had come closer to agreement on a deal earlier this week.

There was a downbeat economic report coming out of Germany on Wednesday. The Ifo business confidence fell to 104.7 in June from 108.5 in May, and the lowest level since February. Worries about Greece are blamed on the decline in business confidence in Germany, which is the economic work horse of the European Union.

A news story Wednesday said Chinese consumer demand for gold has tapered off significantly this year (down just under 15% so far in 2015) due to many consumers preferring Chinese stocks over gold as an investment asset. The story said China gold imports could drop by 20% by the end of this year. However, the report also said consumer demand for gold in India is up this year, due to the easing of gold import restrictions by the Indian government. China and India are neck-and-neck the largest gold importers in the world.

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