Gold prices rise with elections, Fed meeting in focus

Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Monday, remaining in sight of record highs as anticipation of a tight presidential election and an upcoming Federal Reserve meeting kept haven demand high.

The yellow metal was also buoyed by weakness in the dollar after substantially softer-than-expected nonfarm payrolls data last week, which furthered the case for more interest rate cuts by the Fed. 

Still, the yellow metal was nursing a tumble from recent record highs, hit mostly by profit-taking at the end of October. 

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $2,741.31 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in December steadied at $2,750.40 an ounce by 23:56 ET (04:56 GMT).  Trump, Harris neck-and-neck as ballots loom

Recent polls showed Donald Trump and Kamala Harris were largely neck-and-neck in the upcoming election, with voting set for this Tuesday.

Particular focus is on the seven battleground states that are likely to decide the direction of the election. Recent polls showed Harris had a strong base in female supporters, while Trump was mostly favored by young white men. Gold buoyed by dollar weakness ahead of Fed meeting

In addition to pre-election haven demand, gold also took support from recent declines in the dollar , as the greenback tumbled from three-month highs after soft payrolls data released last week.

The reading showed the U.S. job market barely grew in October, with downward revisions for the past two months pointing to a cooling in the labor sector.

Such a trend is expected to give the Fed more impetus to cut interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points later this week, although its plans for future rate cuts remain uncertain.

Gold benefits from lower rates, given that they reduce the opportunity cost of investing in non-yielding assets. 

Among other precious metals, platinum futures rose 0.4% to $1,006.75 an ounce, while silver futures rose 0.3% to $32.773 an ounce. Both metals, like gold, were hit with a sharp bout of profit-taking last week.

Among industrial metals, benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.9% to $9,637.50 an ounce, while December copper futures rose 0.7% to $4.4032.

Focus this week was squarely on a meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, where the government is widely expected to outline plans for more fiscal spending.

The country is the world’s biggest copper importer and is grappling with years of weak economic growth.

Source: Investing.com