Gold Prices Tread Water
NEW YORK (
) --
were treading water Tuesday as the U.S. dollar gained strength.
Gold for April delivery was adding $4.20 to $1,103.70 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have traded as high as $1,106.90 and as low as $1,094. The
was rising 0.14% to 80.70. Gold's spot price was paring earlier losses and rising $2.20, according to Kitco's gold index.
were still holding the euro and gold prices hostage. If Greece cannot secure financial aid from the EU at Thursday's summit, then the country might be forced to seek help from the IMF. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that a bailout discussion isn't even on the table at the EU summit. Any sort of massive Greek bailout by the EU is expected to severely harm the euro as many analysts see inflation as the likely result. These fears are supporting the U.S. dollar and tempering investors' risk appetite for gold.
Gold was locked in a tight trading range, finally breaching the $1,100 level. But some technical analysts believe that gold could see another leg down the longer Greek debt fears persist. James Moore, analyst at thebulliondesk.com in his daily metals report, says "for the moment
gold is holding ground in recent ranges; however the return of eurozone risk aversion and technical selling ... could see
gold test of
a key support at $1,088 ... which if broken would open the way to challenge down towards $1,050."
were rising 12 cents to $17.05 while copper was up 1 cent at $3.39.
Mining stocks, a more leveraged way to
, were struggling.
Barrick Gold
(ABX)
was down 0.86 % to $39.07 while
Newmont Mining
(NEM) - Get Report
was rising slightly to $51.55. Other large cap miners
Kinross Gold
(KGC) - Get Report
and
Goldcorp
(GG)
were slightly lower at $17.94 and $38.76, respectively.
Shares of
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold
(FCX) - Get Report
were trading at $80. Jud Pyle, portfolio manager of Options Alerts, noted Monday that
is suggesting that at least one investor believes the stocks will suffer limited upside over the next two months. The company will report earnings in late April.
Yamana Gold
(AUY) - Get Report
was up 0.59% to $10.23. Shares of the popular physically backed ETF,
SPDR Gold Shares
(GLD) - Get Report
were slightly higher at $108.11. Tonnage for the ETF has remained at 1,115.51 tons for almost two weeks, indicating lackluster buying from investors.
>>Slideshow: How to Invest in Gold
>>More stories on gold investing
--
Written by Alix Steel in New York
.
Alix joined TheStreet.com TV in February 2007. Previously, she held positions in film and theater production, management, and legal administration. Alix has a degree in communications and theater from Northwestern University.
