Gold edged up on bargain hunting on Wednesday, but still hovered near its weakest in a month as talks between the White House and Congress to avoid year-end tax hikes and spending cuts showed little progress and kept most investors at bay. Gold rose $4.10 an ounce to $1,700.84 by 0621 GMT after falling to $1,690.64 on Tuesday, its weakest since November 6, on heavy fund liquidation and options-related selling. US gold futures for February added $7.00 an ounce to $1,702.80.