All eyes may be focused on Grexit and the state of the euro, but commodity buyers are looking beyond Greece and the effects of the debt crisis on gold.
Gold is usually seen as a safe-haven for investors but a rush to the metal hasn’t been felt yet. Gold buyers increased their short positions bringing the price of the precious metal down on Tuesday.
Spot gold fell 0.2 percent to $1,167.21 an ounce overnight after rallying as much as 0.6 percent early on Monday. U.S. gold futures dropped 0.5 percent on Tuesday.
The strong dollar hasn’t helped much to stabilize gold’s prices and talk of a rise in U.S. interest rates later this year could increase demand for the dollar and dampen the attraction of non-interest-paying bullion.
According to Howie Lee, an analyst at Phillip Futures, the lackluster price rise is an indication that market instability is affecting gold more than anticipated. “While that suggests gold has lost some appeal as a safe-haven asset, more importantly it signifies the loss of interest in gold as an investment vehicle," Lee said.
Oil Prices Down
At the same time, Greece’s rejection of debt bailout terms is taking its toll on oil prices. After dropping more than 8 percent on Monday, the lowest it’s been since last April, Brent crude managed to steady itself at $57.17 a barrel, up 63 cents. Front-month U.S. crude futures were trading at $52.97 per barrel, up 44 cents from settlement on Monday.
Oil is currently one million barrels per day oversupplied through the end 2016 and with Iranian exports expected to be resumed on a larger scale by 2016 most analysts remain bearish on oil price outlook.