Gold price trades flat ahead of pivotal US election

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. (Image by Gage Skidmore, Flickr.)

Gold prices saw little movement on Monday ahead of the US presidential election, with investors also keeping a close tab on the Federal Reserve policy meeting later this week.

Spot gold traded flat at about $2,734.17 an ounce by 12:20 p.m. ET, having risen as much as 0.5% to $2,748.13 in morning trading. US gold futures were down 0.2% at $2,743.40 an ounce in New York.

Investors are bracing for a pivotal week in the global market as the US is set to elect a new president, even as the results might not be known for days after the voting ends on Tuesday.

“If Trump wins, I think, gold does well here. We’re probably worried a little bit more about inflation with all the tariffs that he’s talking about,” Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities, said in a note.

Also on the radar this week is the Fed’s interest rate decision on Thursday, with markets widely anticipating a quarter-point cut.

“I guess the driver for gold this week will be US elections. The Fed cut is unlikely to trigger much movements in my view, as the bank is likely to signal further cuts in line with market expectations,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.

Bullion has gained more than 30% so far this year, setting multiple all-time highs along the way, with the latest recorded last week at $2,790.15 per ounce.

(With files from Reuters)