Investing.com-- Gold prices rose in Asian trade on Wednesday and were close to record highs as a fiery debate between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump raised uncertainty over the 2024 elections.

Anticipation of a key U.S. inflation reading also kept investors biased towards safe havens such as bullion and the Japanese yen, while the dollar fell in the wake of the debate.

A drop in U.S. stock index futures also signaled a souring in risk appetite.

Spot gold rose 0.1% to $2,519.73 an ounce, while gold futures expiring in December rose 0.2% to $2,548.45 an ounce by 00:19 ET (04:19 GMT).

Dollar retreats, gold advances after Harris-Trump debate

Gains in gold came tracking a decline in the dollar after the presidential debate on late-Tuesday.

Both candidates engaged in a fiery rhetoric against each others’ person and policies, with the debate furthering expectations for a hotly-contested 2024 presidential race.

But this notion pushed up uncertainty over the 2024 elections, especially given that both Harris and Trump presented widely differing plans for the economy.

Gold benefited from some safe haven demand following the debate, with spot prices trading just below a record high of $2,532.05 an ounce.

CPI data awaited for more rate cues

Caution was also in play before a U.S. consumer price index inflation reading due later on Wednesday.

The reading is expected to show a further cooling in U.S. inflation, which is likely to give the Federal Reserve more confidence to begin trimming interest rates.

Wednesday’s inflation data comes just a week ahead of a Fed meeting, where the central bank is expected to cut interest rates by at least 25 basis points.

But recent signs of resilience in the U.S. economy saw traders scale back bets on a bigger, 50 basis point reduction in interest rates next week. This notion had rattled global financial markets over the past week, while keeping gold shy of new peaks.

Other precious metals rose on Wednesday. Platinum futures rose 0.1% to $945.50 an ounce, while silver futures rose 0.6% to $28.777 an ounce. Both metals had largely lagged gold in recent months.

Copper rises, but China jitters persist

Among industrial metals, copper prices advanced as they recovered some measure of recent losses. But concerns over China- particularly slowing copper demand in the country, as well as potential trade war with the west- kept sentiment towards copper skittish.

Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7% to $9,086.0 a ton, while one-month copper futures rose 0.6% to $4.1285 a pound.

U.S. lawmakers were seen preparing a slew of fresh restrictions on Chinese industries, which Beijing criticized. The passing of these measures could herald a renewed trade war with the west, especially after the U.S. and its allies recent rolled out heavy import duties on Chinese electric vehicles.

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