Gold prices surged to a record high in early European trading on Friday, driven by safe haven demand as the US presidential election approaches. Additionally, an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB) provided further support to the precious metal.

At the time of writing, spot gold was trading at $2,705.31 per ounce, reflecting an increase of 0.4%. Meanwhile, US gold futures rose 0.5% to $2,720.

The rise in gold prices comes despite strong US retail sales and labour market data, which have fuelled expectations that US interest rates will decrease at a slower pace in the coming months.

The bullion market has broken out of a tight trading range observed over the past two weeks, hitting new highs as the election draws nearer. Recent polls indicate a closely contested race between vice president Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump, with less than three weeks left until voters head to the polls.

Read more in our commodities round-up

Pedro Goncalves writes:

American Express shares rose 1.8% to an all-time high of $290.91 in pre-market trading as investors anticipate the company’s upcoming third-quarter earnings report scheduled for this Friday.

Wall Street forecasts earnings per share of $3.80 and revenues of $16.67bn. Over the past year, the stock has surged by 84.29%, with a year-to-date increase of 51.1%.

Driving this year’s rally is American Express’s focus on a more affluent clientele, but the upcoming earnings report will be a critical test of whether this momentum can be sustained. Analysts have expressed some reservations about the company’s revenue growth prospects.

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Reports this morning suggest the upcoming autumn budget will bring an increase in inheritance tax for UK residents.

The BBC reported the intention, adding the government is considering multiple changes to the tax. It is not known what those changes might be, though.

Currently, inheritance tax raises about £7bn a year and comes into force on property, possessions and money above the value of £325,000, charged at 40%.

The report comes as Labour attempts to plug a £40bn hole in public finances, as spending exceeded tax receipts. Labour has blamed the previous Conservative government for this gap.

From our US team:

Tech led US stocks higher on Thursday as TSMC's (TSM) upbeat outlook eased worries about artificial intelligence chip demand, helping lift shares of chip heavyweight Nvidia (NVDA) to an intraday all-time high. Strong retail sales data also reinforced overall strength in the US economy.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) rose just over the flatline, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) ticked below it, after briefly touching an intraday record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.4% to hover near all-time highs.

Contract chipmaker TSMC posted a 54% jump in quarterly profit to beat Wall Street estimates and raised its forecast for 2024 revenue growth amid surging AI demand. The outlook boost from the main chipmaker for Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia reassured a market spooked by ASML's (ASML) downbeat sales forecast, reviving hopes for an AI boom.

TSMC's US-listed shares climbed about 10%, crossing a $1 trillion market valuation. Its forecast helped spur a rally in chip stocks, including Arm (ARM), Broadcom (AVGO), and Nvidia, which all were up more than 2%.

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here, hot on the trail of the business and markets news of the day.

This morning we've already had UK retail sales data. Inflation may have fallen below 2% in the latest reading, but that apparently hasn't fed through to people buying more things just yet (more detail on that later).

In terms of quarterly results, we'll be looking at Volvo's (VOL1.SG) Q3 and American Express (AXP).

Let's get to it.