NEW YORK: Gold prices extended gains to a second straight session on Wednesday, driven by weaker equities and bond yields, while traders eagerly await US economic data to gauge the Federal Reserve’s timeline on a potential interest rate reduction.

Spot gold was up about 0.7% at $2,678.70 per ounce, as of 7:43 a.m. EDT (1143 GMT), and trading about $7 below a record high of $2,685.42 scaled last month. US gold futures gained 0.6% to $2,695.30. “Seems the gold market wants to see a record high, with prices marginally below the late-September record high with support coming from a slightly risk-off environment with equities down,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

Safe-haven bullion tends to be a preferred investment in a low interest rate environment and during economic and geopolitical turmoil. “The uncertainty surrounding US elections and geopolitical tensions will also support gold going forward,” said Soni Kumari, a commodity strategist at ANZ.