Gold price continues to be supported by the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe

Despite this morning’s weakness, the gold price continues to be supported by the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe. The latest drama in the Greek tragedy occurred late Tuesday afternoon, when Luxembourg Finance Minister Luc Frieden announced that an agreement on a second bailout for Greece may be delayed until July. Frieden told reporters that policymakers need to ensure there is no “contagion effect” from a bailout and that private sector involvement – i.e. a debt restructuring – is “likely.”

Legendary investor George Soros weighed in on the Greek crisis at an economic conference on Tuesday, where he criticized euro zone officials for “not providing a solution but basically buying time.” Soros noted that policymakers “have always done that…that is the normal thing for authorities to do. In this case, I’m afraid they’re making a mistake.”

Another critic of the policy response in Europe has been Dennis Gartman, long-time commodities investor and author of The Gartman Letter. In a recent interview with Hard Assets Investor, Gartman laid put his bearish case for the euro currency and his bullish stance on the price of gold.