Gold Prices Steady Amid U.S. Presidential Election Focus

Gold prices remained stable during Tuesday's Asian trading, recovering slightly after recent losses. Market anticipation surrounding the upcoming U.S. presidential election and a Federal Reserve meeting kept traders alert.

Recent Market Trends

The yellow metal recently faced profit-taking, particularly following data indicating resilience in the U.S. economy, which diminished expectations for significant interest rate cuts by the Fed.

Despite these fluctuations, gold remained close to record levels obtained in October, with potential for renewed safe-haven buying driven by increased political uncertainty.

• Spot gold: $2,736.26 per ounce
• Gold futures (December): $2,744.95 per ounce

U.S. Presidential Elections

Spot gold prices hovered near an October record high of $2,790.41 per ounce, supported by ongoing demand for safe-haven assets.

Recent polls indicate a tight race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, particularly in seven key battleground states. Voting is scheduled to commence later on Tuesday.

Federal Reserve Meeting Insights

Gold and broader metal prices faced headwinds from a stronger dollar, as the greenback stabilized after recent declines. Traders turned attention toward the impending Federal Reserve meeting.

The market widely expects a 25 basis-point rate cut from the Fed, a more modest reduction than September’s 50 basis-point cut. However, insights on future rate cuts will be closely monitored, especially given recent inflation persistence and robust economic data.

Job data from Friday indicated a mild cooling in the labor market, potentially prompting the Fed to pursue an aggressive rate-cutting strategy moving forward. Lower interest rates would favor metal investments, diminishing the opportunity costs associated with non-yielding assets.

Other Metal Prices

• Platinum futures: $991.65 per ounce
• Silver futures: $32.595 per ounce

In industrial metals, benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose by 0.7% to $9,748.50 per ton, while December copper futures increased by 0.8% to $4.4663 per pound. Anticipation of further stimulus measures from China bolstered copper prices, coinciding with a four-day meeting of the National People’s Committee that commenced on Monday, where plans for increased fiscal stimulus are expected to be discussed.