Investing.com - Gold prices edged lower in North American trading on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to testimony by former FBI Director James Comey and results from the British general election, while assessing the European Central Bank’s policy decision.
Comex gold futures were at $1,286.04 a troy ounce by 9:00AM ET (1300GMT), down $7.15, or around 0.6%. Meanwhile, spot gold was at $1,283.43, moving away from seven-month highs of $1,298.80 touched earlier in the week.
Gold prices settled in the red on Wednesday, pulling back after posting gains for three sessions in a row as investors awaited the outcome of a bevy of potential market-moving events this week.
Former FBI director James Comey is scheduled to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. election at 10:00AM ET (1400GMT) Thursday, marking the first time he publicly speaks since being fired from his post last month.
Comey is expected to be asked about conversations in which President Donald Trump is reported to have pressured him to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, whose ties to Russia are under scrutiny.
In written testimony released on Wednesday, Comey quoted Trump as telling him the Russia investigation was a "cloud" impairing his ability to operate as president.
Investors are fearful that the Trump administration may be further damaged by any revelations that could emerge during the testimony, which could dampen already flagging momentum for the White House economic agenda.
Meanwhile, Britons will head to the polls on Thursday, with voters set to elect 650 members to the Lower House of Parliament from which a government will be formed. Results are expected late in the evening after the market closes.
A final flurry of opinion polls on Wednesday gave Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party a lead between 5 and 12 percentage points over the main opposition Labour Party, suggesting she would increase her majority.
However, British opinion polls have had a relatively poor track record recently, raising expectations that the election outcome could again spring a surprise.
Earlier in the day, the European Central Bank, led by President Mario Draghi, left interest rates unchanged, as expected, but removed language from its policy statement indicating rates could go lower in the future.
Also on the Comex, silver futures dipped 1.7 cents, or about 0.1%, to $17.60 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere in metals trading, platinum was little changed at $947.30, while palladium added 1.5% to $841.12 an ounce.
Copper futures rose 3.6 cents to $2.587 a pound, after China reported stronger-than-anticipated exports and imports for May, suggesting the economy is holding up better than expected.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 45% of world consumption last year.