By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was down on Monday morning in Asia, with uncertainty ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden hitting the yellow metal.
Gold futures inched down 0.05% at $1,865.30 by 12:09 PM ET (4:09 AM GMT). The dollar was down and stocks, which usually move in inverse to gold, were mostly up in Asia on Monday.
Alongside the debate between Trump and Biden, investors are also looking to whether the U.S. Congress will reach an agreement on the latest stimulus measures. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained optimistic that the Democrats and Republicans could reach a deal soon, adding that talks between the two sides were continuing.
Investors are also awaiting a slew of data as the end of the month draws near, with China to release its manufacturing and non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers Indexes (PMIs), as well as the Caixin manufacturing PMI, on Wednesday. The U.S. is also due to release economic data, including September’s Conference Board (CB) consumer confidence index on Tuesday and the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday that investors reduced their bullish positions in COMEX gold and silver contracts in the week to Sept. 22. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust (P:GLD), the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund globally, fell 0.02% to 1,266.84 tons on the same day.
The demand for physical gold crept up in top Asian hubs during the previous well, with Indian dealers easing discounts to the lowest levels since August, as falling prices led to little demand.