By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Gold was up on Monday morning in Asia, with investors turning to the safe-haven asset as the dollar strengthened and talks over the latest U.S. stimulus measures stalled.
Gold futures were up 0.37% at $1933.35 by 12:08 AM ET (4:08 AM GMT), hitting its highest level since Sep. 21 at $1,932.96 earlier in the session. The dollar was up on Monday.
Investors are digesting President Donald Trump’s $1.8 trillion package, proposed on Friday during talks with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Although closer to the Democrats’ preferred price tag of $2.2. trillion, some of Trump’s fellow Republicans are reluctant to add to the growing U.S. debt pile ahead of the Nov. 3 presidential elections.
On Sunday, as resistance to a broader package mounted, the Trump administration called on Congress to pass a stripped-down COVID-19 relief bill to be funded by an expired small business loan program.
Trump also said on Sunday he had fully recovered from his bout with COVID-19, with his physician Sean Conley stating that he is no longer an infection risk.
Across the Atlantic, the European Council will meet from October 15 to 16, and investors will be looking to whether the European Union and the U.K. can reach a Brexit deal ahead of Prime Minster Boris Johnson’s self-imposed Oct. 15 deadline. Johnson also told French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday that Britain will explore every avenue for a trade deal but warned that progress to bridge significant gaps needs to be made in the coming days.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday that investors increased their bullish positions in COMEX gold and cut them in silver contracts in the week to Oct. 6.
Meanwhile, the good news extended to physical gold in India. Jewelers saw physical gold sold at a premium during the previous week for the first time since mid-August, ahead of key festivals in the country that could entice customers back into jewelry stores.