Gold prices gain in Asia as Greece debt talks come down to the wire

Investing.com - Gold prices ticked slightly higher in Asia on Tuesday as investors awaited word on a possible deal to avert a euro zone crisis over Greece's struggles to pay itss sovereign debt obligations.

The leaders of Germany, France and Greece's international creditors worked late Monday with "real intensity" to clinch a deal in debt negotiations ahead of a June 5 deadline to make a €305 million payment to the International Monetary Fund, Reuters reported.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery ticked up 0.04% to $1,189.20 a troy ounce.

Silver for July delivery gained 0.03% to $16.737 a troy ounce.

Copper for July delivery rose 0.11% to $2.717 a pound.

Overnight, gold futures rose modestly on Monday extending its winning streak to its fourth session, as a wave of encouraging U.S. economic data pushed the dollar higher.

Gold prices jumped after the Institute of Supply Management released its manufacturing composite index in U.S. morning trading. In the month of May, the index surged to 52.8, its highest level in three months.

The reading outperformed the high end of consensus forecasts of 52.7. New orders, meanwhile, soared to a 55.8 level, its highest reading of the year.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Commerce said consumer spending for April was flat, slightly below expectations of a 0.2% gain. Spending on durable goods weighed heavily, declining by 0.7% in April. A month earlier, overall consumer spending in March increased by 0.5%.

Meanwhile, inflation for the month was also flat slightly below analysts' forecasts of a 0.1% gain. The Core PCE index, excluding food and energy prices, rose by 0.1%, below expectations of a 0.2% increase. On a year-over-year basis, the index is up 1.4% -- also below yearly gains in the April CPI of 1.8%.

The Federal Reserve wants to see inflation near its targeted goal of 2% during a two-year period before it raises its benchmark Fed Funds rate for the first time in nearly a decade.

Gold, which is not attached to dividends or interest rates, struggles to compete with high-yield bearing assets in periods of rising rates.

Separately, construction spending surged 2.2% in April far exceeding estimates of a 0.7% increase. Construction spending in March was also upwardly revised to 0.5% from an initial reading of negative 0.6%, while spending on construction in February was unchanged, up from a previous reading of negative 0.6%.