YEREVAN, June 28./ ARKA/. Gold prices rose by the end of trades on Wednesday as the euro zone said it may approve financial aid for Cyprus in general and not only for the banks of the country.
Gold August futures at Comex stock in New York climbed as high as 0.2% to 1578.40 dollars per troy ounce, RIA Novosti reports.
On June 26 Cyprus, the fifth euro zone country to seek emergency funding from Europe, requested for a bailout of up to 10 billion euros, over half the size of its economy. Bank of Cyprus has already said it will need nearly 500 million euros for bailout.
Thereby Fitch Ratings agency has downgraded Bank of Cyprus issuer default rating from “BB+” to “BB”. According to analysts, the government of Cyprus may be forced to allocate up to 6 billion euros to the banking system.
The rise in gold prices was somehow hindered by the series of positive economic data from the United States. The volume of orders for long-term goods in May jumped by 1.1% against projected 0.5% to 217.2 billion dollars; sales of secondary property increased in May by 5.9% from April against forecasted 1.5%.
Gold climbed 10% in 2011. The precious metal’s rise has never been so long, at least since 1920.
Gold price rose 6.7% in the first quarter of this year, but dropped by 6% in May.—0–
