Gold held steady and silver slid on Monday, pressured by a firm dollar as fears about the eurozone debt crisis deepened ahead of a meeting of the bloc's finance ministers. The euro slid to a seven-week low against the dollar after IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a key voice in eurozone debt talks, was charged with sexual assault, increasing uncertainty on aid for Greece and other indebted eurozone countries.
The dollar index, a measure of the greenback's strength against a basket of currencies, advanced to its highest since early April. Spot gold was little changed at $1,493.09 an ounce by 0625 GMT, after ending flat in the previous week. Prices had fallen by about 5 percent from the lifetime high of $1,575.79 hit on May 2. US gold was nearly unchanged at to $1,493.10.
"Gold could reverse recent falls and stand above the support level of $1,500 over the next week, as safe-haven buying could resume on re-ignited eurozone sovereign debt concerns," said Natalie Robertson, commodities strategist at ANZ. Eurozone finance ministers are likely to back a bailout package for Portugal in a meeting later on Monday. Spot silver fell nearly 3 percent to $34.23, before regaining some lost ground to $34.54, in thin and volatile trade. US silver fell by 1.3 percent to $34.58.