Gold Hits Record on US Debt Impasse

Spot gold hit an all-time high on Wednesday, for the sixth time in two weeks, as a deadlock in U.S. debt ceiling talks continued to drive up safe-haven buying in bullion. 
    

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Spot gold [XAU  218.84    0.37  (+0.17%)   ] rose as high as $1,622.66 in early Asian trade, before easing to $1,621.99 by 0058 GMT.  It was up in 16 of this month's 19 trading sessions so far. 
   
U.S. gold futures [GCCV1  1622.30    5.50 (+0.34%)   ]  gained 0.3 percent to $1,622.30. It set a record of $1,624.3 on Monday. 
   
Investors are waiting to see if the Republican and Democratic leaders can break the deadlock over raising the U.S. debt  ceiling beyond $14.3 trillion as an August 2 deadline looms.
   
A small majority of economists polled by Reuters said the United States would lose its top-notch AAA credit rating from at least one major rating agency.
   
"The same arguments about potential government bond fallout are still being made," said a Singapore-based trader, "but people are on the sidelines ahead of the August deadline waiting to see whether or not the U.S. is going to avoid a technical default." 
  
Adding to the uncertainties, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday postponed an expected Wednesday vote on a Republican plan to raise the debt ceiling after budget experts said it would not deliver the spending cuts it claimed.
   

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Platinum group metals scored multi-month highs as investors looked for alternatives for gold, and a labor dispute in South Africa, the biggest producer of these metals, underpinned sentiment, the trader said. 
   
Spot platinum [PLCV1  1812.60    5.40  (+0.3%)  ] hit $1,810, its highest since June 13. It was last quoted at $1,808.49. 
   
Spot palladium [PACV1  842.95    6.85  (+0.82%)   ] gained half a percent to $836.50, after reaching a five-month high of $841.25 in the previous session.

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