Gold price rises on the Greek debt problem and the soft U.S. economic data

Gold price rose on the Greek debt problem and the soft U.S. economic data. Friday's Eurogroup meeting ended without any results as widely expected. Discussions between the Greek government and its creditors will continue at the next Eurogroup meeting on May 11.

The head of the Eurogroup Jeroen Dijsselbloem rejected the idea of a "Plan B" for Greece if the debt talks are not successful.

The idea was raised by ministers from Slovenia, Slovakia and Lithuania at the Eurogroup's meeting on Friday.

The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held phone calls with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dijsselbloem on Sunday to discuss speeding up the negotiations. According to the Greek government, Greece will resume talks with its creditors today.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble hinted on Saturday that Germany was preparing for a possible Greek default.

The recently released soft U.S. economic data also supported gold price ahead of the Fed's monetary policy meeting. The U.S. preliminary services purchasing managers' index (PMI) declined to 57.8 in April from 59.2 in March, beating expectations for a decrease to 57.4. The decline was driven by a decrease in new business growth.

It is likely that the Fed will delay its first interest rate hike.

June futures for gold on the COMEX today climbed to 1203.90 dollars per ounce.