gold prices rose to their highest level in nearly a month wednesday, as investors ignored fresh signs of federal reserve hawkishness and zeroed in on rising uncertainty ahead of u.s. elections. gold for december delivery closed up 1.6% at $1,308.20 a troy ounce on the comex division of the new york mercantile exchange, its highest level since oct. 4. prices were steady in electronic trading after the f ed released its statement , and were recently up 1.3%. the fed<u+2019>s postmeeting policy statement pointed to signs that inflation is firming, an indication officials are prepared to raise rates in the weeks ahead. it also included a subtle suggestion that the bar to raising rates for the first time in a year is low, saying it only needed <u+201c>some further evidence<u+201d> of economic progress before moving. expectations of higher rates tend to be bearish for gold, which struggles to compete with yield-bearing investments when borrowing costs rise. with u.s. elections less than a week away, however, investors chose to focus on politics, rather than economics. tightening polls in the u.s. presidential race continued to sway investor sentiment. a washington post-abc news tracking poll showed republican candidate donald trump leading in the u.s. presidential race on tuesday, sparking uncertainty after investors had broadly priced in a victory for democrat hillary clinton. some investors buy gold during times of political or economic turbulence, believing the metal will hold its value better than other assets when markets turn rocky. <u+201c>politics are going to keep the market uneasy enough that there will not be aggressive selling in gold,<u+201d> said peter hug, global trading director at kitco metals. <u+201c>investors have redeployed capital into gold just in case there is a surprise tuesday night.<u+201d> rising uncertainty has also taken the u.s. dollar to its lowest level in three weeks, providing another boost for gold. the precious metal is priced in dollars, and becomes less expensive to foreign buyers when the u.s. currency declines. investors are also looking ahead to friday, when the u.s. releases its closely followed nonfarm payroll numbers for october. a strong employment report would bolster the case for a rate increase in december, a potentially bearish development for gold, which struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when rates rise. federal-funds futures, used to bet on central bank policy, on wednesday showed that investors assigned a 71.5% likelihood of a rate increase in december. december silver was up 1.5% at $18.69 per troy ounce, platinum was up 0.4% at $1001.80 a troy ounce, and palladium was up 0.1% at $634.50 a troy ounce. <u+2014>katherine dunn contributed to this article. write to ira iosebashvili at ira.iosebashvili@wsj.com
gold prices rise to one-month high  - wsj
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