2020.11.0318:36:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Higher As Dollar Loses Ground

Gold prices moved higher on Tuesday as the dollar weakened amid hopes the U.S. government will soon announce a fiscal stimulus.

The dollar's weakness, ahead of the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting that begins tomorrow, supported gold's uptick.

The dollar index fell to 93.29 around late morning, and despite recovering to 93.59, was still notably down, losing nearly 0.6%, from previous close.

The focus is on the presidential election. Investors are hoping that Democrat Joe Biden, if he manages to unseat President Donald Trump, will push for a bigger fiscal stimulus and take a freer approach to trade.

Biden is reportedly holding a lead in national polling and is also leading in several key swing states in the race to defeat Trump.

There is optimism that the results of the election will be known at the end of the night without the need for lawsuits and recounts.

Gold futures for December ended up $17.90 or about 1% at $1,910.40 an ounce.

Silver futures for December ended higher by $0.301 at $24.334 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.0925 per pound, gaining $0.0155 for the session.

In U.S. economic news, new orders for manufactured goods showed a significant increase in the month of September, rising by 1.1%, data from the Commerce Department showed. Orders rose by a revised 0.6% in August.

Economists had expected factory orders to rise by 1% in September compared to the 0.7% increase originally reported for the previous month.

The report said orders for durable goods spiked by 1.9%, while orders for non-durable goods rose by 0.3%.