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Gold little changed as investors await deal on debt ceiling
by icn.com
Gold prices were slightly changed early Wednesday amid expectations that U.S. Congressional leaders will manage to find a resolution to raise the debt ceiling before the government’s borrowing authority ends tomorrow.
Spot Gold last traded at $1285.36 an ounce, up from $1280.00 late Tuesday. As of 07:16 GMT
Senate leaders resumed talks aimed at avoiding a default and ending the government shutdown after the House of Representatives scrapped a vote on a plan that would have kept the government open through Dec. 15 and suspended the debt limit until Feb. 7, 2014.
Fitch Ratings put the U.S. on watch for a possible credit downgrade, citing lawmakers’ inability to forge a deal even as it expects the debt ceiling to be raised. The U.S. will begin missing promised payments between Oct. 22 and Oct. 31, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
The government shutdown, which began Oct. 1, may have already hurt the recovery.
Data yesterday showed the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s general economic index fell to a five-month low in October.
A failure to find an agreement could be destructive to financial markets in the U.S. and around the globe. Investors could turn to safe-havens such as gold, which will trigger a significant spike on gold’s prices.
Spot silver lost as much as 1 percent to $21.1567 an ounce and traded at $21.3195. Prices dropped to $20.5088 yesterday, the lowest since Aug. 9, before rallying.
Platinum rose 0.54 percent to $1391.74 an ounce.
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