Gold prices fell slightly in early Asian trade on Monday, remaining in sight of a record high but seeing few increases in safe haven demand after an alleged assassination attempt on former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Safe haven buying, in the face of increased U.S. political uncertainty, favored the dollar, with the greenback recovering a measure of recent losses on Monday. Still, the dollar remained weak amid growing bets on U.S. interest rate cuts, which buoyed gold in recent weeks.
Spot gold fell 0.2% to $2,407.49 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in August fell 0.4% to $2,412.20 an ounce by 20:34 ET (00:34 GMT).
US political uncertainty grows after Trump attack
Markets were still grappling with an uncertain political outlook for the U.S. after a failed assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The assailant shot at Trump and hit him in the ear, although the former president was still seen urging supporters to “fight!”
Heightened political jitters in the wake of the attack were initially expected to support safe haven plays into gold. But such a scenario did not play out as expected, as the dollar benefited from some inflows, while the yellow metal largely retreated after the attack.
Analysts speculated that the attack improved Trump’s chances of a victory over Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden later this year. A Trump presidency is expected to potentially add to inflation and debt- a scenario that usually results in a stronger dollar.
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The greenback rose about 0.2% against a basket of currencies, although it was nursing steep losses over the past two weeks.
Traders were somewhat cautious towards gold with the yellow metal trading close to a record high of $4,050 an ounce hit earlier this year. Historically, gold has always fallen sharply after marking brief record highs.
The yellow metal, along with broader metal markets, benefited greatly from increased speculation over interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Soft consumer price index inflation reading from last week saw traders ramp up bets the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in September- a notion that battered the dollar.
Other precious metals also retreated on Monday, seeing little immediate safe haven demand.
Platinum futures fell 0.6% to $1,007.65 an ounce, while silver futures fell 0.9% to $30.890 an ounce.
Copper edges lower as China woes mount ahead of GDP data
Among industrial metals, copper prices fell on Monday, extending losses from last week amid persistent concerns over top importer China.
Data on Friday showed China’s imports of the red metal fell in June, raising questions over domestic demand.
Benchmark Copper Futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.4% to $9,841.50 a tonne, while one-month Copper Futures fell 0.4% to $4.5633 a pound.
Focus is now squarely on key Chinese gross domestic product data for the second quarter, due later on Monday. The reading is expected to show some cooling in growth, which bodes poorly for copper demand.
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