gold prices rose to the highest level in four weeks tuesday, boosted by a weaker u.s. dollar and uncertainty surrounding the u.s. presidential election. gold for december delivery settled up 1.2% at $1,288.00 a troy ounce on the comex division of the new york mercantile exchange, closing at the highest level since oct. 3 and the biggest one-day gain since sept. 6. the wsj dollar index was recently down 0.4% at 88.21. gold is priced in dollars and becomes cheaper to other currency holders when the dollar weakens. adding to gold<u+2019>s gains is the looming concern over the economic impact of the nov. 8 u.s. election, analysts said. according to james steel, chief precious metals analyst at hsbc, a victory for either republican candidate donald trump or democratic candidate hillary clinton would be good for gold prices, although the metal would get more support from a trump presidency. <u+201c>this u.s. election may be particularly important in setting the course of u.s. economic policy and foreign policy and hence for gold prices, given the severity of the challenges facing the economy,<u+201d> he wrote in a tuesday note. investors will also be watching the u.s. federal reserve<u+2019>s policy meeting, which concludes wednesday, for further clues on the path of interest rate increases this year. while the market largely doesn<u+2019>t expect a rate increase in november, many traders still see december as a possible opportunity for the central bank to raise rates. according to the cme group fedwatch tool, 73.6% of traders expect the fed to raise interest rates in december, a slight decline from monday<u+2019>s probability. <u+201c>there is short-term real angst in the market,<u+201d> said peter hug, global trading director at kitco metals, in a tuesday note. <u+201c>the uncertainty of the u.s. election, the wobble in the equity markets and the unknown of u.s. interest- rate policy is making it easier to be long the metals.<u+201d> write to stephanie yang at stephanie.yang@wsj.com
gold jumps to four-week high on market uncertainty - wsj
stephanie yang