Investing.com – Gold prices rose on Wednesday, as U.S. political uncertainty resurfaced, after President Donald Trump threatened to ‘close down’ the government, sparking fresh fears that continued political uncertainty in Washington could further delay the introduction of tax-reform.
Gold futures for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $4.04, or 0.31%, to $1,295.33 a troy ounce.
Gold’s path to $1,300 was made easier somewhat as investors fretted the possibility of further turmoil in Washington, following President Trump’s threat to shut down the government if he does not get funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.
"If we have to close down our government, we're building that wall," President Trump said. "We're going to have our wall. The American people voted for immigration control. We're going to get that wall."
Traders, however, remained cautious of initiating large positions in the precious metal ahead of speeches by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen at a two-day central banking symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which gets underway on Thursday.
Ahead of the central banking symposium analysts have scaled back expectations of further monetary policy tightening.
“Yes the Fed may hike in December and yes the ECB may announce a further taper for 2018 in October but recent events (softer inflation, softer market sentiment and the strong Euro for the ECB) may mean that now might not be the time they choose to guide markets towards such an outcome”. Analysts at Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) said.
In other precious metal trade, silver futures rose 0.37% to $17.05 an ounce while platinum futures lost 0.10% to $980.35 an ounce.
Copper traded at $2.98, down 0.13%, while natural gas futures fell by 0.48% to $2.93.