Gold prices gain amid approach of Greek election, FOMC meeting

The price of gold was climbing on Friday as the second Greek presidential election in six weeks neared and speculation mounted about the prospects of the U.S. Federal Reserve implementing a third round of monetary easing, Reuters reports.

Having been approved for two tranches of international bailout aid since June 2010, the Aegean nation is set to vote on Sunday. Hanging in the balance is Greece's membership in the 17-nation euro bloc, which many analysts believe will become more clear depending on election results, according to Bloomberg.

The Federal Open Market Committee, the policy-making unit of the central bank of the U.S., is set to convene next week for two days of meetings.

"Any chance of monetary easing is in the medium term positive" for the yellowish metal, analyst Tobias Merath with Credit Suisse told Reuters. "We think the cyclical environment is not so bad but we've seen a lot of profit taking in the last two months. Every time people expect more deleveraging of banks, less lending (they) sell assets (like gold) to generate cash."

At 10:34 a.m. on Friday, the price of gold increased 0.68 percent, an $11 gain to $1,630.60 per troy ounce.