MTS Help Center

Gold prices edged lower on Monday as the dollar firmed, though the market is focused on the outcome of the U.S. presidential debate later in the day, that could see investors buying more of the metal as a hedge against financial uncertainty.

If Trump is perceived to have an improved probability of winning the Presidential race, that is likely to be supportive of the gold prices, so we could see (gold) prices rallying in the short term amid higher volatility," said NAB analyst Vyanne Lai.

The first U.S. presidential debate between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton will take place at 0100 GMT on Tuesday, with investors looking for indications of who could win the race to lead the world's biggest economy. "With Trump closing the gap with Clinton, the uncertainty is likely to keep gold underpinned," said Alex Thorndike, senior precious metals dealer, MKS PAMP Group.

Gold may be in for a bumpy ride in the final quarter as Republican candidate Donald Trump now has a 40 percent chance of winning the presidential election and investors will be preparing for the possibility of higher U.S. interest rates, according to Citigroup Inc.

Volatility in bullion and foreign-exchange markets may increase, according to a commodities report from the bank as it raised the odds on a Trump victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in November from 35 percent. There would probably be a single U.S. hike by year-end, it said.

“Polls have started to tighten ahead of the U.S. presidential election, and Citi has raised the probability of a Trump victory,” the bank said in the note. “We expect a Trump win would bring out higher volatility in gold and forex, which in turn should lead to higher volumes in other precious metals.”