Deal Lifts Euro

(Reuters) - Gold prices climbed on Monday as news that Greece's parliament had approved an austerity bill needed to release a second round of bailout funds lifted the euro, while platinum rose back towards a three-month high as supply issues flared up. Spot gold was up 0.7 percent at $1,731.60 an ounce at 1302 GMT (10:02 a.m. EST), while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were up $8.60 an ounce at $1,733.90. The euro rose 0.6 percent against the dollar on relief that Greek leaders had approved the austerity package, though investors were skeptical about the strength of the euro's gains with more hurdles left to be cleared. "While the Greek parliament has ratified the austerity measures, some uncertainty still remains, for instance regarding the demand for a clear commitment ...

(Reuters) - Gold prices climbed in Europe on Monday as news that Greece's parliament had approved an austerity bill needed to release a second round of bailout funds lifted the euro, while platinum rose back towards a three-month high as supply issues flared up. Spot gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,728.59 an ounce at 1100 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were up $5.70 an ounce at $1,731.00. Greek political leaders struggled last week to reach a deal on painful austerity reforms demanded by the European Union and International Monetary Fund in exchange for a 130 billion euro bailout. The measures have sparked violent protests in Athens. Relief that they had approved the austerity package lifted the euro 0.7 percent against the dollar on Monday, though investors were ...

(Reuters) - The Greek parliament's approval of austerity measures to secure a much-needed bailout lifted the euro and European shares on Monday, although with further steps needed before the shadow of a debt default can be lifted, gains may be limited. Greece must still find a further 325 million euros ($428.6 million) of spending cuts and give binding assurances the plan will be implemented before Wednesday when euro zone finance ministers meet to decide on a new 130 billion-euro bailout. The euro was up 0.4 percent at $1.3250 recouping some of the losses made on Friday and about a cent below a two-month high of $1.3322 hit last week. "The tense political situation in Greece continues to dominate price action on FX markets," UBS economist Reto Huenerwadel said. Share markets were also ...

(Reuters) - Gold prices bounced back into positive territory on Tuesday, paring earlier losses in line with a rallying euro after a Greek official said the government is drafting an agreement on a second bailout. Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,723.89 an ounce at 1502 GMT (10:02 a.m. EST), having earlier fallen as low as $1,709.29 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures for February delivery were up $1.70 at $1,726.60. A Greek government official said Greece's government is preparing the text of an agreement on a 130 billion euro bailout that will be put to political leaders for approval, suggesting Athens had largely wrapped up talks with lenders on the rescue. A conclusion to the discussions would likely to support gold, although it has struggled to maintain upward momentum as the ...

Confidence that European leaders will come up with a credible plan to lead the region out of its debt crisis at a crucial summit this week lifted world stocks on Monday. Wall Street opened more than 1 percent higher, while European stocks hit a five-week high. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Paris ahead of a key European Union summit later in the week to iron out their differences on how to centralize control of euro zone budgets to resolve the region's debt crisis. The two leaders are expected to outline joint proposals for more coercive budget discipline in the euro zone, which they want all 27 EU leaders to approve at Friday's summit. An agreement could pave the way for an accelerated implementation of the euro zone's rescue scheme to help ...

(Reuters) - Confidence that European leaders will come up with a credible plan to lead the region out of its debt crisis at a crucial summit this week lifted world stocks and boosted the price of troubled euro zone bonds on Monday. The positive mood in Europe looks set to add to the glow from last week's U.S. jobs data with stock index futures pointing to a higher open for equities on Wall Street. "The U.S. economy has been resilient to market turmoil of recent months but remains vulnerable to a deterioration in Europe," Julia Coronado, BNP Paribas North America chief economist, said in a note. Market sentiment was given an early boost after Italy unveiled a 30-billion-euro package of austerity steps, and the Irish government too said it would do the something similar in a new budget to ...

(Reuters) - World stocks and the euro rose to their highest levels in nearly two months on Thursday after European leaders struck a deal to resolve a two-year-old sovereign debt crisis, which threatens the survival of the single currency. Brent crude and copper prices also rallied. Prices of safe-haven U.S. Treasuries and German Bunds fell, though those of highly indebted euro zone countries gained. As concerns of a near-term default eased, the cost of insuring Greek debt against default also fell. The deal, announced in the early hours of Thursday, will see private bondholders of Greek debt accept a 50 percent loss on their investment, while banks will be recapitalized and the size of the currency bloc's rescue fund will be leveraged to 1 trillion euros ($1.4 trillion). "Full credit ...

Gold eased in Europe on Friday, retreating further from this week's record high, as European leaders' agreement of a rescue package for debt-laden Greece boosted appetite for assets seen as higher risk, like stocks, at the metal's expense. Prices remain supported above $1,580 an ounce, however, by doubts that the euro zone is yet out of the woods, and as negotiations over the management of U.S. debt rumble on in Washington. Spot gold was down 0.1 percent at $1,586.58 an ounce at 0926 GMT, but is still up 12 percent so far this year. "There could be more of a correction if this crisis is really calming down, but it is too early to say that all is going to be well," said Peter Fertig, a consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research. "Don't forget that even if there is now less need to ...

World stocks hit a two-week high on Friday and the euro and oil prices rose after European leaders agreed on a package to rescue Greece that hopes to prevent the region's debt crisis from deepening. The dollar was under pressure as uncertainty intensified as to whether U.S. lawmakers could strike on a last-minute deal to raise the country's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling to avoid a default. The deal on Greece showed that Europe was taking stronger action than markets had expected although many economists warned that it may not draw a line under the crisis in the longer-term. At the emergency summit on Thursday, euro zone leaders promised a second bailout of Greece with an extra 109 billion euros ($157 billion) of government money, plus a contribution by private sector bondholders estimated ...