Investing.com - Gold prices were little changed on Monday as traders braced for the U.S. mid-term elections and the Federal Reserve’s November meeting due later this week.
At 9:18 AM ET (14:18 GMT), gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped 30 cents, or 0.02%, to $1,230.70 a troy ounce.
Voters on Tuesday will decide key races in Congress and state governments, with market participants cautious as the results could influence U.S. President Donald Trump’s ability to pass additional tax and trade reforms.
Expectations point to the likelihood that Democrats could win control of the House of Representatives, although Republicans are widely expected to reinforce their hold in the Senate.
The Fed will begin its two day meeting on Wednesday after last week’s solid monthly employment report showed that U.S. job growth rebounded sharply last month while wage growth accelerated at the fastest pace in more than nine years.
The data underlined the case for the Fed to forge ahead with plans to continue with gradual increases in interest rates.
Interest rate increases and higher U.S. bond yields are usually bearish for gold, which offers no yield.
In other metals trading, silver futures fell 0.72% at $14.650 a troy ounce by 9:19 AM ET (14:19 GMT).
Palladium futures advanced 0.72% to $1,112.50 an ounce, while sister metal platinum lost 0.73% at $869.30.
In base metals, copper traded down 1.43% to $2.763 a pound.