Gold held steady on Tuesday after the last session's record high, as investors stayed on the sidelines, watching the stalemate in Washington's budget talks to avert a ratings downgrade or default. Selling related to an option expiration Tuesday pressured gold prices and boosted futures volume, even as the US government appeared inching closer to a devastating default.
Spot gold edged up 0.2 percent at $1,617 by 2:47 pm EDT (1847 GMT), after hitting a record $1,622.49 on Monday. Spot silver was up 1.1 percent at $40.74, after hitting a two-month high of $41.05 in the previous session. Silver hit a record $49.51 on April 28. US COMEX gold futures for August settled up $4.60 an ounce at $1,616.80, trading between $1,607.80 and $1,619.
Heavy futures trading related to the COMEX August option expiration on Tuesday boosted trading volume to above 280,000 lots, one of the busiest sessions of the year. Among platinum group metals, platinum was up 1 percent at $1,802.53 an ounce, while palladium was up 3.7 percent at $833.47.