Gold prices gain in Asia as investors eye last-minute Greece debt talks

Investing.com - Gold prices gained in Asia on Friday as events surrounding Greece's debt talks look increasingly close to collapse, though meetings are seen through the weekend.

Talks between Greece and its creditors remained inconclusive, as discussions continued over the latest proposed reforms from Greece’s creditors and Greece’s counter-proposal.

Greece's Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, told European Union Leaders Thursday in Brussels that any deal with creditors "must be viable and have adequate funding" a Greek official told journalists.

Tsipras spoke during the Leaders' dinner where the Greek issue was discussed and according to the official some leaders were "more favorable and some more harsh." Nonetheless, Tsipras expressed his optimism that a deal could be reached by the end of the week.

The Greek premier said that his government presented adequate and credible proposals in line with creditors' demands and that "Greece does not need more austerity but a growth agenda, investments and structural reforms."

The emergency negotiations could resume on Saturday, The Guardian reported.

“We shall continue our deliberations, the institutions are going to look again at the two documents - our documents and their own, there will be discussions with the Greek government, and we’ll continue until we find a solution,” Greece finance minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters in Brussels.

Time is running out for the Greek government to secure a deal to unlock bailout funds ahead of the looming deadline for a €1.6 billion repayment to the International Monetary Fund on June 30.

If Greece misses the payment it risks going into default, which could trigger the country’s exit from the euro area.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for August delivery rose 0.18% to $1,173.90 a troy ounce. Gold is viewed as a safe-haven for investors in periods of severe economic instability.

Silver for July delivery gained 0.22% to $15.843 an ounce.

Copper for July delivery dropped 0.04% to $2.622 a pound.

Overnight, gold futures inched down on Thursday extending a recent slump, amid strong U.S. consumption data and a lack of progress in Greek Debt negotiations.

At the same time, the Commerce Department said PCE price index rose by 0.3% for the month in line with consensus estimates from analysts. The index is up by 0.2% on a year-over-year basis. The Core PCE price index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, inched up 0.1% from April. Over the last 12 months, however, the index is up 1.2%.

The PCE index is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure for inflation. Last week, the Fed reiterated that it would like to see inflation move toward its long-term targeted goal of 2% before it institutes its first interest rate hike in more than a decade.

Gold, which is not attached to interest rates or dividends, struggles to compete with high-yield bearing assets in higher rate environments.

Elsewhere, initial jobless claims remained near historic lows even as the level increased by 3,000 last week to 271,000. More critically, the four-week average fell by 3,250 to 273,750 moving lower from monthly averages throughout the spring.