• Gold fell for a third day on Friday as the dollar firmed after the UK national election left no single party with a claim to power though most investors seemed to shrug off the uncertainty.
• With the majority of seats counted, incumbent Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative Party had no way to win an outright majority in parliament. She had called the election to gain a stronger mandate before launching into arduous divorce talks with the European Union.
• "The poll verdict could create mild risk aversion which should be mildly supportive for gold; but depends on what sort of negotiations take place between the EU and UK (over Brexit)," NAB analyst John Sharma said.
"For now, looks like the market has taken this in its stride."
• Spot gold was down 0.3 percent at $1,275.26 per ounce at 0624 GMT. The yellow metal was set for a weekly drop of 0.5 percent, its first weekly drop in five.
• Earlier in the day, gold was pressured by events in the United States, including former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey's Congressional testimony and improving economic data.
However, his statement was seen containing no major surprises.
• "Looking at the developments in the UK and in the U.S. as well as at the recent ECB meeting, we think of these as business as usual," said Joshua Rotbart, managing partner, J. Rotbart & Co in Hong Kong.
"The road is bumpy and the price follows, but assuming no major armed conflict in sight, or any other developments that may result in an impeachment process of President Trump, we believe prices will bounce back and forth in response to performances of other assets classes."
• The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.4 percent at 97.267.
• Among other precious metals, Silver fell 0.1 percent to $17.36 per ounce.
Reference: Reuters
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