Gold prices fall but record highs remain in sight

Gold prices fell slightly in Asian trade on Friday, remaining in sight of record highs hit earlier this week as anticipation of a tight U.S. presidential election kept traders biased towards safe havens.

While the yellow metal did notch new highs, it struggled to hold its peaks amid pressure from a stronger dollar and higher Treasury yields. Still, gold was set for mild weekly gains in its third consecutive week of gains. 

Safe haven demand was also boosted by persistent concerns over worsening geopolitical conditions in the Middle East.  

Spot gold fell 0.4% to $2,724.55 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in December fell 0.4% to $2,737.05 an ounce by 00:30 ET (04:30 GMT). Spot gold was set to rise about 0.2% this week after hitting a record high of $2,758.53 an ounce.  Election, M.East jitters keep gold underpinned. 

Safe haven demand for gold was buoyed by uncertainty over the U.S. election, with less than two weeks left to the ballot.

Republican nominee Donald Trump was seen gaining an edge over Vice President Kamala Harris, according to recent polls and prediction markets. 

But with the race still too tight to call, markets remained largely risk-averse, fueling demand for gold.

Increased tensions in the Middle East also dented risk appetite, after Israel presented a harsh rhetoric against Iran this week. Markets are awaiting a retaliatory strike by Israel against Tehran over an early-October attack.

A particular point of concern is that Israel will attack Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities, which could mark a dire escalation in the conflict. 

The conflict between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah also showed little signs of de escalation, despite persistent U.S. attempts to broker peace. 

Other precious metals fell on Friday. Platinum futures sank 1.5% to $1,022.95 an ounce and were trading flat for the week, while silver futures fell 0.5% to $33.635 an ounce, but were up 1.2% this week.  Copper falls, set for fourth week of losses 

Among industrial metals, copper prices fell on Friday and were headed for a fourth week in red as pressure from the dollar and doubts over Chinese stimulus measures pressured the red metal.

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.3% to $9,535.50 a ton, while December copper futures fell 0.5% to $4.3457 a pound. Both contracts were down about 1% this week. 

A meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, which was supposed to provide more cues on fiscal stimulus, appeared to be delayed to November from late-October. 

China- the world’s biggest copper importer- had announced a slew of major stimulus measures over the past month. But the measures did little to improve sentiment, as traders sought more details on the timing and scale of the planned measures.

Source: Investing.com