New York: Gold rose on Thursday, shrugging off signals from the Federal Reserve that it could hike interest rates next month, as uncertainty over the outcome of the US
presidential election hurt the dollar and upheld the safe-haven demand for bullion.
Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to $1,301.63 (Dh4,776.98) an ounce at 0731 GMT. The yellow metal touched a high of $1,307.76 in the previous session, its best since October 4.
US gold futures were down 0.4 per cent at $1,302.40 per ounce.
“Some people think that Donald Trump would become the US president and if that happens it is negative for the US dollar and positive for gold,” said Jiang Shu, chief analyst at Shandong Gold Group.
Narrowing polls have led markets to price in more risk that Republican Donald Trump might defeat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in next week’s contentious US presidential election, perhaps remembering the turmoil that followed the surprise Brexit vote.
“The tightening US election has generated enough uncertainty to propel the market higher in our view,” HSBC analyst James Steel said in a note.
“If uncertainty is the factor providing the oxygen for the gold rally, then it is likely to continue at least until the election.”
The dollar nursed its losses on Thursday as election concerns overshadowed this week’s signals from the Fed that it was on track to hike interest rates next month as the economy gathers momentum and inflation picks up.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, fell 0.3 per cent to 97.103.
Volatility
Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion and also boost the dollar, making the metal more expensive for those holding other currencies.
“Nonfarm payrolls data on Friday and US election on Tuesday should provide plenty of volatility,” said MKS PAMP Group trader Jason Cerisola.
The key nonfarm payrolls report will be released on Friday.
Employers are expected to have added 175,000 jobs in October, according to the median estimate of 106 economists polled by Reuters. “Even bad data won’t change the idea of a rate hike as the Fed has shown that there is a high probability for a rate hike in December,” Jiang Shu of Shandong Gold Group said.
Among other precious metals, silver was up 0.3 per cent at $18.50 an ounce. It hit a high of about $18.73 on Wednesday, its best level since Oct. 4.
Platinum rose 0.3 per cent to $989.55. Palladium was up 0.3 per cent at $630.30.