On Monday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for April delivery declined $15.40 to settle at $1,724.90 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures edged one penny higher to close at $33.75.

The U.S. dollar (NYSE:UUP) climbed higher today as a Greek austerity deal has not been reached.  International creditors are demanding more austerity measures from Greece, but failed to reach an agreement over the weekend.  The austerity measures are a precondition to Greece receiving another bailout.  On March 20, Greece has a 14.5 billion euro bond payment to make, and currently does not have the funds to do so.

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In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) declined .25 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) gained .21 percent.  Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as AngloGold (NYSE:AU) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) fell 2.15 percent and 1.10 percent, respectively.  Meanwhile, First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) and Edeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) both declined more than 1 percent.

Shares of Randgold Resources Limited (NASDAQ:GOLD) jumped 1.8 percent as the miner’s CEO said demand is still strong for gold.  Mark Bristow said, “The supply side of the supply-demand equation is very tight. There is a growing demand side from the increase in jewelry off-take in central Asia, but also the central banks starting to buy gold. These are the emerging markets central banks, not the G20 central banks.”

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To contact the reporter on this story: Eric McWhinnie at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com

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