Investing.com — Gold prices settled lower on Thursday, but remained just below record levels, as political uncertainty boosted safe-haven demand ahead of the week’s biggest economic release.
At 09:20 ET (13:20 GMT), the price was down 0.7% at $2,768.40 per ounce, while the December term was down 0.7% at $2,780.05 per ounce.
The yellow metal hit a series of record highs this week, with spot prices hitting a record high of $2,790.10 an ounce earlier in the session, largely pushing aside a stronger dollar as broader risk-averse sentiment left traders largely biased toward havens .
Some concerns about the conflict in the Middle East have also fueled demand for safe havens, as has increased political uncertainty in Japan.
Gold rises in October amid increased demand for ports
Spot prices were on track to rise more than 5% in October, marking a fourth straight month of gains.
Increased uncertainty surrounding the US elections was a key driver of the recent rise in gold prices, as well as continued expectations of lower US interest rates.
Recent polls showed Donald Trump and Kamala Harris nearly neck-and-neck for the next president, although prediction markets were more focused on a Trump win.
Data released earlier Friday showed the inflation measure closely watched by the Federal Reserve slowed over the year through September, with inflation slowing to an annual increase of 2.1% over the month, cooling off after an upwardly revised reading of 2.3% in August.
The figure was in line with expectations, while the so-called ‘core’ measure, which excludes more volatile items such as food and fuel, came in at 2.7% per year – faster than expectations of 2.6% and equal to the pace of August.
The much-watched monthly data will be released on Friday, and it comes just days before a Fed meeting where the central bank is likely to cut rates by 25 basis points.
Other precious metals retreated from recent gains on Thursday. Broader metals prices remained under pressure from a strong dollar, as signs of resilience in the US economy boosted the greenback.
fell 0.4% to $1,017.50 per ounce, while the price fell 1.8% to $33.458 per ounce.
Copper weakens, leading to steep losses in October amid China jitters
Among industrial metals, copper prices rose slightly on Thursday, thanks to limited support from mixed purchasing managers’ index data from top importer China and the country’s plans for more stimulus measures.
Concerns about China are also heading for steep losses in October. Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.1% to $9,572.00 a tonne, while December copper futures rose 0.4% to $4.3690 a pound. Both contracts fell between 3% and 4% in October.
China’s PMI data offered little optimism as manufacturing activity just managed to grow in October. But non-manufacturing activities grew at a slower pace.
A Reuters report shows that China plans to roll out $1.4 trillion in additional debt in the coming years, largely aimed at boosting economic growth. The focus now is on a meeting of China’s National People’s Congress next week for more clues on fiscal stimulus.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
