Investing.com - Gold prices inched up on Thursday in Asia as the U.S. House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump, causing political uncertainty in Washington.
U.S. Gold Futures inched up 0.1% to $1,480.65 by 1:20 AM ET (05:20 GMT). The yellow metal is up about 0.5% both for the month and the fourth quarter and 15% on the year.
Cautious sentiment supported prices of the safe-haven gold today, although the president is likely to survive a trial in the GOP-led Senate next month.
“The impeachment is resulting in a slight increase of the uncertainties and we’re seeing gold inch higher on the back of that,” said ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes in a CNBC report.
“This news is also offsetting headwinds such as strong equity markets, the (U.S.-China) trade deal and better economic data.”
The gains today were limited by strong American manufacturing output. On Friday, the U.S. will report on existing home sales and initial jobless claims for November.
Last month, the Federal Reserve ended its rate-cut cycle for 2019 after three straight reductions of a quarter percentage point. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has since expressed a desire to see greater inflation growth in order to continue easing.
“The Fed Chair is looking for a ‘persistent and significant’ increase in inflation before putting hikes on the table — which will ultimately suppress real rates further and provide a tailwind for gold in 2020,” TD Securities said in a note.
“This lends strength to the view that gold's rally is young and is prone to continue through the New Year.”