Gold Climbs With Silver as Greek Vote Bolsters Demand for Haven

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Gold and silver rose on haven demand after Greece voted against yielding to further austerity measures in a weekend referendum, risking the country’s exit from the euro.

Bullion for immediate delivery climbed as much as 0.6 percent to $1,175.45 an ounce and was at $1,173.33 at 8:03 a.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. Gold in euros rose as much as 1.8 percent to 1,068.87 euros an ounce.

Investors shifted away from risky assets on the result of the referendum, with gold rising while stock futures and oil fell. Greece’s exit from the common currency after years of crisis would set a precedent for others that membership is reversible. European leaders including Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel must now decide whether a rescue is still possible, while at the European Central Bank policy makers assess if the program of Emergency Liquidity Assistance, known as ELA, to Greece’s banks should continue.

With all the votes counted, the result put support for the ‘no’ camp at 61.3 percent, while 38.7 percent voted ‘yes,’ according to the Interior Ministry. Chancellor Merkel will head to Paris on Monday for talks with President Francois Hollande to map out a way forward.

Source : Bloomberg

Greece Debt Crisis: Greek Voters Reject Bailout Offer

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With almost all the ballots counted, results from the Greek referendum show voters decisively rejecting the terms of an international bailout.

Figures published by the interior ministry showed nearly 62% of those whose ballots had been counted voting "No", against 38% voting "Yes".

Greece's governing Syriza party had campaigned for a "No", saying the bailout terms were humiliating.

Their opponents warned that this could see Greece ejected from the eurozone.

"Today we celebrate the victory of democracy, but tomorrow all together we continue and complete a national effort for exiting this crisis," Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a televised address.

He said that voters had granted him "not a mandate against Europe, but a mandate to find a sustainable solution that will take us out of this vicious circle of austerity".

Some European officials had said that a "No" would be seen as an outright rejection of talks with creditors.

But Greek government officials have insisted that rejecting bailout terms would strengthen their hand, and that they could rapidly strike a deal for fresh funding in resumed negotiations.

Greek banks would reopen by Tuesday, they said.

Reacting to the result of Sunday's vote, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis called it "a big 'yes' to a democratic Europe".

Greece would enter into "positive" in negotiations with its creditors, he said.

Euclid Tsakalotos, Greece's deputy foreign minister, told Star TV that two developments would allow Greece to pursue "a solution that is financially viable".

"Firstly, the government now has a new popular mandate and the second is the latest [International Monetary Fund] report which says that the Greek debt is unsustainable."

Greece had been locked in negotiations with its creditors for months when the Greek government unexpectedly called a referendum on the terms it was being offered.

Banks have been shut and capital controls in place since last Monday, after the European Central Bank declined to give Greece more emergency funding.

Withdrawals at cash machines have been limited to €60 per day. Greece's latest bailout expired on Tuesday and Greece missed a €1.6bn (£1.1bn) payment to the IMF.

Source : BBC

Asian Stocks Slide as Greece No Vote Raises Risk of Euro Exit

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Asian stocks fell as Greece voted against accepting further austerity, increasing the likelihood of the country’s exit from the euro zone.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.5 percent to 145.65 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo. Sixty-one percent of voters backed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s rejection of further spending cuts and tax increases in an unprecedented referendum that’s also taken the country to the brink of financial collapse. The results mean Greece exiting the currency union is now the base scenario, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said. Japan’s Topix index sank 1.5 percent as the yen gained 1.2 percent against the euro.

European Union President Donald Tusk called a euro-area summit for Tuesday. While the European Central Bank’s Governing Council is due to talk on Monday on whether to keep supporting Greece’s lenders, it’ll probably be reluctant to preempt such a meeting.

Source : Bloomberg

Japan Stocks Fall, Yen Rises After Greece Votes No to Austerity

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Japanese stocks fell and the yen strengthened as investors sought haven assets after Greek voters rejected austerity demanded by creditors, endangering the renegade nation’s future in the euro zone.

The Topix lost 1.5 percent to 1,627.15 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo, with all of its 33 industry groups declining. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 1.6 percent to 20,209.49. The yen, regarded as a haven, gained 1.3 percent to 134.60 per euro and added 0.3 percent against the dollar.

With all ballots counted, Greeks have voted 61.3 percent to back Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in rejecting austerity measures required to win another bailout package, according to figures posted on the Interior Ministry’s website. The results mean Greece exiting the currency union is now the base-case scenario, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said. Polls last week had indicated the vote would be too close to call.

E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 1.2 percent from Thursday. U.S. markets reopen Monday after a holiday on Friday.

The weekend Greek verdict turns the tables on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her counterparts across Europe, who must decide if a financial rescue of the region’s most indebted country is still possible. It significantly raises the chances of a Greek exit from the single currency, as the country’s banks run out of cash and its economy staggers toward all-out collapse.

Source : Bloomberg