Gold struggles as stronger dollar offsets Greece concerns

Gold struggled to recover from overnight losses on Wednesday as a stronger dollar offset safe-haven bids over uncertainties about Greece's future in the euro zone.

Spot gold was flat at $1,234.46 an ounce by 0034 GMT, following a 0.4 percent drop on Tuesday that sent it closer to a three-week low of $1,228.25 reached last week.

The dollar hovered at one-month highs versus the yen early on Wednesday, bolstered by gains in Treasury yields, while uncertainty over a new debt deal for Greece kept a cloud over the euro.

The dollar was trading just below a 11-year peak against a basket of major currencies.

A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

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Gold struggled to recover from overnight losses on Wednesday as a stronger dollar offset safe-haven bids over uncertainties about Greece's future in the euro zone.

Spot gold was flat at $1,234.46 an ounce by 0034 GMT, following a 0.4 percent drop on Tuesday that sent it closer to a three-week low of $1,228.25 reached last week.

The dollar hovered at one-month highs versus the yen early on Wednesday, bolstered by gains in Treasury yields, while uncertainty over a new debt deal for Greece kept a cloud over the euro.

The dollar was trading just below a 11-year peak against a basket of major currencies.

A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated gold more expensive for holders of other currencies.

Investors were also awaiting developments in Europe, where the probability of Greece's exit from the euro zone has risen in recent days as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has taken an increasingly hard line over government debt.

Euro zone finance ministers meet later on Wednesday and EU leaders on Thursday, but officials are already downplaying the chance of a breakthrough.

The uncertainty over Greece has helped gold in recent sessions, but the stronger dollar has capped gains.

In other industry news, operations at Sibanye Gold's Beatrix mine resumed on Monday night after a turf war between opposing unions forced the mine to close for two days, the company said on Tuesday.

U.S. platinum jewelry imports surged more than 60 percent in 2014 from a year ago, while imports of gold jewelry rose 15 percent, according to Thomson Reuters GFMS calculations released on Tuesday and based on United States Census data.