Gold was flat on Wednesday as investors anxiously awaited the outcome of a hotly contested U.S. presidential election.
Spot gold held steady at $2,745.42 an ounce as of 0218 GMT. Bullion hit a record high of $2,790.15 last Thursday.
U.S. gold futures rose 0.2% to $2,754.10.
Republican Donald Trump won 14 states in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, while Democrat Kamala Harris captured four states and Washington, D.C., Edison Research forecast, but states are unlikely to crucial elements of the battlefield are known before hours, even days.
The U.S. election makes up 95% of the news this week, with 5% from the Federal Reserve to add a touch of spice, said Kyle Rodda, financial markets analyst at Capital.com.
“Gold is part of the Trump trade and, in the long term, stands to benefit from a Trump victory, primarily due to the impact of huge deficit spending, but also a potentially more uncertain U.S. foreign policy,” he said. said Mr. Rodda.
Traders are also awaiting the Fed's two-day policy meeting, which ends Thursday, and remarks from Chairman Jerome Powell for further guidance.
Markets widely expect the Fed to announce a quarter-point rate cut this week following the September cut.
“As markets expect a 25 basis point cut this week, the Fed may avoid a dovish tone due to the inflationary impact of Trump's policies,” said Matt Simpson, senior analyst at City Index.
Gold is seen as a hedge against geopolitical and economic uncertainties and tends to thrive in a low interest rate environment.
The U.S. trade deficit rose to its highest level in nearly two and a half years in September, according to data released Tuesday.
Separately, the Perth Mint reported a drop in gold sales in October, while silver sales hit their lowest level in four months.
Spot silver fell 0.53% to $32.49 an ounce, platinum lost 0.6% to $993.45 and palladium fell 2.17% to $1,052.25 .
