Gold futures ended Tuesday with a loss, at their lowest settlement in nearly a week, with traders focused on the outcome of Tuesday's midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.
December gold GCZ8, -0.16% lost $6, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,226.30 an ounce on Comex. That was the lowest finish since Halloween. December silver SIZ8, -0.06% settled 14.7 cents, or 1%, lower at $14.50 an ounce.
Republicans currently have majorities in the House and Senate. Democrats are widely expected to take control of the House of Representatives in Tuesday's election, while Republicans are seen maintaining control of the Senate.
"Gold could fall if Republicans, seen as being more business-friendly, were to maintain control of both the lower and upper houses, said Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com.
However, "the Democrats are likely to regain control of the House of Representatives, which means some of [President Donald] Trump's key policies could face fierce opposition in his remaining two years of his first term at the White House," he said in emailed commentary. "In this potential outcome, we could see both the dollar and possibly stocks sell off sharply, boosting the appeal of the dollar-denominated and safe-haven precious metal."
In Tuesday dealings, the ICE U.S. Dollar indexDXY, +0.01% was up less than 0.1% at 96.34, trading around 4.6% higher year to date.
Interest in gold as a safe-haven investment also weakened as "the reimposition of economic sanctions against Iran are muted by the extensive 'waivers' granted by the U.S., leading oil lower," said Jeff Wright, executive vice president of mineral exploration company GoldMining Inc.
The Federal Open Market Committee will hold a two-day policy meeting this week that ends with a statement on Thursday. "No change in rates or messaging is anticipated," said Wright.
In other metals trade, January platinum PLF9, -0.26% rose 0.2% to $871.50 an ounce, while December palladium PAZ8, -0.36% dropped 2.3% to $1,095.30 an ounce, retreating from nearly 1.6% rise on Monday. December copper HGZ8, -0.36% lost nearly 0.9% to about $2.733 a pound.
Among exchange-traded funds, the SPDR Gold Shares GLD, -0.01% traded down 0.5%, while the iShares Silver Trust SLV, +0.15% shed 1%.
Holdings in global gold-backed exchange-traded funds and similar products saw their first monthly inflows in four months, according to a report Tuesday from the World Gold Council. They rose in October by 16.5 metric tons to 2,346 metric tons, equivalent to $1 billion in inflows, lifted by an October climb in gold prices.