US MIDDAY: gold surges

Gold turned higher on Monday as France and Germany told Greece the door was open to negotiations after Greek voters had rejected the terms of a bailout package. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,169.25 an ounce by 3:08 pm EDT (1908 GMT), while US gold futures settled up $9.70, or 0.8 percent, at $1,173.20 an ounce. Leaders of France and Germany told Greece's government the door for negotiations with creditors remained open but urged it to make credible proposals at a euro zone summit to reach a cash-for-reform deal and so avoid a euro zone exit.
Gold prices turned higher on expectations of a statement after French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angel Merkel met to discuss Greece, said Tai Wong, director of base and precious metals trading for BMO Capital Markets in New York.
"The gold market appears to have reacted to that on concern, perhaps, that rhetoric may be unyielding after the surprise result on the Greek referendum." The Greek vote leaves the country in uncharted waters, risking a banking collapse. Without more emergency funding from the European Central Bank, Greece's banks could run out of cash within days. European leaders called a summit for Tuesday to discuss their next move.
Equity markets around the world fell and US oil prices tumbled nearly 8 percent after Greece's referendum results and on unprecedented measures in China to staunch massive recent losses in its stock markets. Gold is typically seen as an alternative investment in times of financial and economic uncertainties. It rallied during Asian hours but failed to hold onto gains, as the dollar gained versus the euro. "There isn't the fear of a pan-European crisis, as was the case a few years ago, when you saw a rush to gold, which was already in a bull market," Macquarie analyst Matthew Turner said.
Hedge funds and money managers cut their bullish position in COMEX gold futures and options by more than half in the week ended June 30, ahead of the Greek default on a payment to the IMF, US Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed on Monday. Platinum was the weakest performer among precious metals, with a 3.4 percent fall to its lowest since March 2009 at $1,043.50 an ounce. Silver was down 0.3 percent at $15.63 an ounce and palladium fell 0.5 percent to $676.00 an ounce, close to a two-year low hit last week.