Investing.com - Gold prices held near the prior session's four-week high during European hours on Monday, as investors looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week, while monitoring fresh political uncertainty in the U.S.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 75 cents, or 0.06%, to $1,276.05 a troy ounce by 3:50AM ET (07:50GMT).
The Fed is not expected to take action on interest rates at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. The central bank will release its latest statement as investors look for any change in language which could point more clearly to a December rate hike.
A rate hike ahead of the November 8 presidential election is seen as highly unlikely. Markets are currently pricing in a less than 10% chance of a rate hike next week, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool. For December, odds stood at around 75%.
On Friday, the yellow metal climbed to $1,285.40, the most since October 4, after the FBI said it would review more emails related to Hillary Clinton's private email use, fueling worries about a surprise election outcome.
The U.S. dollar regained some ground following Friday’s political-uncertainty-driven selloff. The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was last at 98.50 early Monday, rebounding from Friday's low of 98.22.
The index rallied to a nearly nine-month high of 99.09 last week as a recent string of positive U.S. economic data combined with hawkish remarks from key Fed officials heightened expectations for an interest rate hike before the end of the year.
Also on the Comex, silver futures for December delivery tacked on 7.1 cents, or 0.4%, to $17.86 a troy ounce during morning hours in London, while copper futures dipped 0.6 cents, or 0.3%, to $2.187 a pound.