Investing.com - Gold prices remained close to recent highs on Wednesday, refusing to give up much ground despite a broad rally in risk assets around the world.
By 11 AM ET (15:00 GMT), gold futures for delivery on the Comex exchange were at $1,555.04 a troy ounce, down less than 0.1% from late Tuesday. Spot gold traded at $1,546.00 an ounce, down 0.1%.
Risk appetite revived and demand for haven assets unwound accordingly after opponents of a No Deal Brexit succeeded in wresting control of the parliamentary agenda from the government of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson late on Tuesday. Further gains came after news that Hong Kong's leadership would pull a controversial draft bill that was the initial spark for months of protests in the former British colony.
However, losses were trimmed after New York Federal Reserve President John Williams (NYSE:WMB) reminded markets of the likelihood of lower U.S. interest rates before too long. Williams said in a speech that the economy looked "weaker than previously thought" after downward revisions to data for second-quarter gross domestic product and employment. He stressed the need for the Fed to remain "data-dependent" and to remain alert to risks to the world economy outside the U.S., noting that uncertainty over trade policy and other factors had depressed business investment.
Earlier, Bloomberg had reported BNP analysts as forecasting that gold would top $1,600 an ounce next year as the Fed cuts interest rates four times. Even so, that forecast would suggest that the bulk of the gold rally is over, given that prices have already risen 20% this year.
Elsewhere, silver futures extended their recent rally, hitting a new three-year high of $19.66 an ounce before retreating to $19.43 by 11 AM ET.
Silver has outperformed gold in recent weeks, as speculative interest has pivoted to the cheaper metal. However, given that nearly half of all silver demand is industrial, it represents a much less "pure" haven asset.
Copper futures, meanwhile, rebounded 2.5% to $2.59 a pound after hitting a three-year low on Tuesday.