Investing.com - Gold edged up in Asia on Monday with a busy week of central bank remarks ahead and what is expected to be a record audience for the first debate between the top two contenders for the U.S. presidency.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.04% to $1,342.25 a troy ounce.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery eased 0.11% to $19.788 a troy ounce, while copper futures for December delivery rose 0.14% to $2.203 a pound.
In the coming week, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak amid ongoing uncertainty over the timing of the next U.S. rate hike. As well, a pair of speeches from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will be in focus for fresh hints on whether the ECB will step up monetary stimulus in the coming months to boost inflation and prop up the economy.
In addition, remarks by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will be eyed in wake of last week's decision by the central bank to modify its policy framework.
The Japanese central bank refrained from cutting interest rates further into negative territory or expanding its asset purchase program at its monetary policy meeting, instead switching to targeting interest rates as a way to reach its inflation target.
Another big event for markets could be the first U.S. presidential debate on Monday between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican hopeful Donald Trump.
Last week, gold prices edged lower on Friday, but notched the strongest weekly advance in almost two months after the Federal Reserve held off on raising interest rates and scaled back the number of rate hikes it expects next year.
The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion. A gradual path to higher rates is seen as less of a threat to gold prices than a swift series of increases.
The Fed left interest rates unchanged at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday, but hinted that a hike could come in December if the job market continued to improve. At the same time, the U.S. central bank also cut the number of rate hikes it expects next year and in 2018, according to the median projection of forecasts released with its post-meeting statement. The Fed has policy meetings scheduled in early November and mid-December.
Economists believe policymakers would avoid a rate hike in November in part because the meeting falls just days before the U.S. presidential election. Markets are currently pricing in a 12.4% chance of a rate hike at November's meeting, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.