Gold steadies

Bengaluru

Gold prices held steady ahead of the verdict of the UK national election, with early results suggesting no clear winner which could plunge the country into a new bout of political turmoil before Brexit talks.

The metal fell 0.6 percent in the previous session after former FBI director James Comey´s Congressional testimony was seen as containing no major surprises. Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,279.13 per ounce at 0046 GMT. U.S. gold futures for August delivery rose 0.2 percent to $1,281.5. * Sterling sank in Asia on Friday after British elections seemed to have left no single party with a clear claim to power, sideswiping investors who had already weathered major risk events in the United States and Europe.

British Prime Minister Theresa May spectacularly lost her electoral gamble, according to an exit poll that suggested her Conservatives would fall short of a majority in parliament, throwing her Brexit plans into disarray.