Investing.com – Gold steadied on Wednesday, supported by a drift lower in the dollar, as investors anticipated a flurry of potential risk events that could spur volatility and uncertainty, increasing demand for safe havens.
Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $7.81 or 0.59%, to $1,289.82 a troy ounce.
Gold eased from lows, as the dollar pared earlier gains against the euro, which fell to session lows earlier, after a report surfaced from Bloomberg, suggesting the ECB will cut its inflation forecast for the next three years to 1.5% amid a slump in energy prices.
The report comes a day ahead of the ECB interest rate decision and press conference from ECB President Mario Draghi, who in speech last Monday, said that stimulus and support measures were still needed to boost in inflation.
Geopolitical concerns continued to underline moves in the precious metal, as investors braced for potential headwinds on Thursday that could rattle risk appetite and drive sentiment towards safe-havens such as gold.
While pollsters predict that UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative party will garner enough seats to fend off a competition from the Labour party, investors remain concerned that the Conservative party may not significantly expand its majority by as much as hoped.
The final General Election polls have showed that the gap between the Tories and Labour has remained at six points.
In Washington, investors braced for former FBI chief James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Russia’s alleged involvement in the U.S election.
The outcome of Comey’s testimony could prove a further distraction to President Trump as he struggles to deliver on his economic initiatives, intended to boost the U.S. economy.
In other precious metals, silver futures dipped 0.77% to $17.570 a troy ounce while platinum futures lost 1.63% to trade at $947.60.
Copper added 0.12% to $2.550, while natural gas traded roughly flat at $3.040.