Gold prices fall, but record highs remain in sight By Investing.com

Investing.com – Gold prices fell slightly in Asian trading on Friday, remaining within sight of record highs hit earlier in the week, as expectations of a close U.S. presidential election prompted traders to focus on safe havens.

While the yellow metal hit new highs, it struggled to maintain its highs under pressure from a stronger dollar and higher Treasury yields. Nevertheless, gold was expected to post slight weekly gains for the third week in a row.

Demand for safe havens was also boosted by ongoing concerns about deteriorating geopolitical conditions in the Middle East.

fell 0.4% to $2,724.55 an ounce, while December expiring gold fell 0.4% to $2,737.05 an ounce at 00:30 ET (04:30 GMT). Spot gold was expected to rise about 0.2% this week after hitting a record high of $2,758.53 an ounce.

Election and M.East unrest keep gold underpinned.

Demand for safe-haven gold was boosted by uncertainty over the US election, with less than two weeks left until the vote.

According to recent polls and prediction markets, Republican candidate Donald Trump has gained an advantage over Vice President Kamala Harris.

But with the race still too close, markets remained largely risk-averse, boosting demand for gold.

Rising tensions in the Middle East also dampened risk appetite after Israel used harsh rhetoric against Iran this week. Markets are waiting for Israel to retaliate against Tehran over an attack in early October.

Of particular concern is that Israel will attack Iran’s oil and nuclear facilities, which could lead to a dire escalation of the conflict.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah also showed little sign of de-escalation, despite continued US attempts to broker peace.

Other precious metals fell on Friday. Gold prices fell 1.5% to $1,022.95 an ounce and traded flat for the week, while they fell 0.5% to $33.635 an ounce but rose 1.2% this week.

Copper is falling and is heading for its fourth week of losses

In industrial metals, copper prices fell on Friday and are expected to remain in the red for a fourth week as dollar pressure and doubts about China’s stimulus measures pressured the red metal.

The benchmark on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.3% to $9,535.50 a tonne, while December fell 0.5% to $4.3457 a pound. Both contracts lost about 1% this week.

A meeting of China’s National People’s Congress that was supposed to provide further guidance on fiscal stimulus appeared to be postponed from late October to November.

China – the world’s largest copper importer – announced a series of important stimulus measures last month. But the measures did little to improve sentiment as traders sought more details on the timing and scope of the planned measures.