Daily outlook for gold prices

Quotes from Commerzbank Corporates & Markets:

-Gold finds itself under unexpected pressure in a market environment fraught with uncertainties and this morning dipped temporarily to $1,200 per troy ounce. In euro terms, gold is trading at around €1,060 per troy ounce. This is because positive US economic data published yesterday increased the probability of the US Federal Reserve raising interest rates sooner rather than later. By contrast, gold appeared largely unaffected by the toing and froing in the debt dispute with Greece.

-Although the Greek government yesterday applied to have the existing aid programme extended, its application clearly does not meet the conditions defined by the Eurogroup at its meeting on Monday. The German Ministry of Finance in particular rejected the application, claiming that it was inadequate. The Eurogroup will be meeting this afternoon to negotiate with Greece on a compromise deal to extend the aid programme.

-The Indian central bank further eased the import restrictions on gold this week. Among other things, gold can now be used as collateral for loans again. At the same time, there are growing expectations that the import duty on gold - which currently stands at 10% - will be lowered when the national budget for the coming fiscal year is published at the end of the month.

-According to the estimates of one industry association, this could result in Indian gold imports doubling to 75-90 tons per month. If so, India would offset a possible weakness in terms of Chinese imports. The wedding season begins in India in March, and a high religious festival will be celebrated in April.