By Matt Day
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Gold futures slid below the $1,500 mark Friday, touching their lowest levels in more than six weeks as cautious optimism about Greece's debt crisis and global growth hit demand for the metal as a refuge.
The most actively traded contract, for August delivery, was recently down $14, or 0.9%, at $1,488.80 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures Friday slid as low as $1,482.10 an ounce, the lowest intraday price for a most-active contract since May 17.
The Greek parliament this week voted in favor of a set of austerity measures, a necessary step to secure further aid from the European Union and International Monetary Fund and forestall a default there. Worries about the ability of Greece and other debt-laden euro-zone members to finance their debt had boosted the appeal of gold, as some investors view the precious metal as a tool to preserve wealth during turmoil in other markets.
"People are feeling a little better about the situation in Greece," said Matt Zeman, head of trading with brokerage Kingsview Financial. "We're seeing some light at the end of the tunnel and that's taken some risk premium out of the gold market."
Gold has also come under pressure this week as market participants who place bets based on patterns in trading activity saw a potential reversal in gold's fortunes. Futures early last week seemed poised to challenge May's record highs above $1,550 an ounce, before a sharp pullback sapped some of the market's momentum.
Analysts with Barclays Capital say the yellow metal may slide as low as $1,460 to $1,470 before finding a base.
Platinum for October delivery was recently down 0.9% at $1,771 a troy ounce. September-delivery palladium fell 1.5% to $749.40 an ounce.
September-delivery silver was down 3.2% at $33.72 a troy ounce.
-By Matt Day, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-4986; matt.day@dowjones.com
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