Investing.com - Gold prices edged higher in Asia on Monday with the Fed set to review rates this week and hold steady, but also expected to provider a clearer signal on rate hike prospects in December.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 0.14% to $1,278.65 a troy ounce. Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery gained 0.18% to $17.828 a troy ounce, while copper futures for December delivery eased 0.05% to $2.196 a pound.
This week, the Fed policy statement on Wednesday and Friday’s U.S. nonfarm payrolls report for October will be in focus along with central bank meetings in the U.K., Japan and Australia. Investors currently price a 73.9% chance of a rate hike at the Fed's December meeting, according to federal funds futures tracked Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Last week, gold prices rose to an almost four-week high on Friday amid heightened safe haven demand after the FBI said it would review more emails related to Hillary Clinton's private email use.
The report sparked fresh uncertainty over Mrs. Clinton’s election prospects ahead of the November 8 U.S. presidential election, amid fears over what a victory for Republican candidate Donald Trump might mean for the U.S.
The dollar fell following the report, despite the release of better-than-expected data on U.S. third quarter growth earlier Friday, which supported that case for a Federal Reserve rate hike in December.
U.S. gross domestic product expanded at an annual rate of 2.9% in the three months to September the Commerce Department said, after rising by 1.4% in the second quarter.
Economists had forecast growth of 2.5%. The report also showed that U.S. consumer spending slowed to 2.1% in the last quarter, from 4.3% in the second quarter.
Despite the slowdown in consumer spending the report indicated the economy is on a strong enough footing to withstand higher interest rates.
The U.S. central bank raised rates for the first time in almost a decade in December.