Investing.com - Gold prices were little changed in early deals on Thursday, as investors kept an eye on U.S. tax reform developments ahead of a vote in Congress later in the day.
House Republicans are set to pass a sweeping rewrite of the tax code when they vote this morning, bringing President Donald Trump and the Republican party closer to their first major legislative win.
The final passage vote is expected soon after Trump speaks with a full conference of House Republicans at an 11:30AM ET (1630GMT) closed-door meeting in Washington.
Comex gold futures were nearly unchanged at $1,277.13 a troy ounce by 3:10AM ET (0810GMT).
On Wednesday, gold touched a session high of $1,290.00, its best level since Oct. 20, before turning lower to lose about 0.4% as U.S. inflation and retail sales data further firmed up the case for a December rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
The Fed is scheduled to hold its final policy meeting of the year on Dec. 12-13, with interest rate futures pricing in a 100% chance of a rate hike at that meeting, according to Investing.com's Fed Rate Monitor Tool.
Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.
In other metals trading, silver futures held steady near $17.00 a troy ounce, platinum was little changed near $933.45, while palladium was flat at $985.72 an ounce.
Meanwhile, copper futures slipped 0.6 cents, or 0.2%, to stay close to a five-week low of $3.048 a pound amid concerns over a slowdown in China's economy. The Asian nation the world's top user of the red metal.