london<u+2014>as the u.s. heads to the polls, gold investors are already preparing for a separate round of potentially contentious elections in the eurozone next year. spot gold has tracked the polls ahead of the u.s. presidential election, but buyers of gold exchange-traded funds in europe have already spent months trading on worries about elections in 2017, according to alistair hewitt, head of market intelligence at the world gold council. next year will bring at least three elections in european powers<u+2014>germany, france, the netherlands, and potentially italy, which faces a referendum on constitutional reform in december<u+2014>where antiestablishment parties could reshape the eurozone. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s a very, very busy political calendar,<u+201d> said mr. hewitt. demand for gold tends to rise when the perception of economic or political uncertainties rise, alongside other so-called <u+201c>safe-haven<u+201d> assets, such as the dollar, the yen and some government bonds. over the third quarter, demand for gold etfs rose at its fastest pace since april 2013, according to a report released by the london-based council on tuesday. but that demand largely shifted from u.s.-based investors, who drove the market earlier in the year, to those based in europe, mr. hewitt said. <u+201c>brexit had a very big impact and very rapidly<u+201d> on these investors<u+2019> concerns, he said. following the british vote to leave the european union in late june, gold prices rallied more than 6% in a single day. on the spot market, gold prices closely tracked the race between the two u.s. presidential candidates in the lead up to tuesday<u+2019>s election. last week, gold prices rose sharply on polls indicating that republican candidate donald trump was narrowing the gap between him and democratic nominee hillary clinton. comments by the fbi that a further investigation into mrs. clinton<u+2019>s emails wouldn<u+2019>t result in charges sent the precious metal tumbling monday. now, many analysts say a clinton victory is likely priced in, while a trump victory would create a <u+201c>brexit-style<u+201d> shock. <u+201c>regardless of what that outcome is, i still think that political uncertainty is here to stay,<u+201d> mr. hewitt said. while a focus on loose monetary policy and the timing of interest rate increases by the federal reserve continue to dominate discussion around the metal, jitters about world events have made a comeback as a driving force for gold over 2016, he said. <u+201c>the list of things for people to worry about is quite long,<u+201d> said mr. hewitt, from concerns over chinese growth to geopolitical events and persistently low interest rates. <u+201c>however, in my experience people can only worry about a few things in detail at one time.<u+201d> write to katherine dunn at katherine.dunn@wsj.com
gold investors prepare for 2017 eurozone elections - wsj
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