Gold prices hit a record high in Asian trade on Wednesday as the U.S. government began shutting down after Congress failed to approve fresh federal funding. 

Spot gold hit a record high of $2,875.53 an ounce, while gold futures for December hit a peak of $3,903.45/oz. Spot prices traded slightly below the record, at $3,862.22 by 00:22 ET (04:22 GMT). 

US government begins shutting down amid Congress deadlock over spending

A shutdown took effect from midnight, Tuesday (0400 GMT Wednesday) after an eleventh-hour spending bill backed by the Republican party failed to clear a Senate vote, amid persistent resistance from the Democrats. 

The yellow metal hit a series of record highs this week amid increasing signs of U.S. political deadlock, which weighed on the dollar and kept traders biased towards safe havens. 

Other precious metal prices also clocked hefty gains this week as safe haven demand spilled over from gold, with platinum and silver prices hitting 12 and 14-year highs, respectively.

Spot silver rose 0.9% to $47.0525/oz on Wednesday, while spot platinum fell 0.3% to $1,572.18/oz. 

Industrial metals were also sitting on sharp gains this week, but saw some declines on Wednesday. Benchmark copper futures on the London Metal Exchange fell 0.1% to $10,278.10 a ton, while COMEX copper futures fell 0.7% to $4.8450.

Nonfarm payrolls data likely delayed 

A U.S. government shutdown is expected to delay a hotly anticipated labor market reading due this week. A prolonged shutdown is also expected to disrupt future U.S. data releases. 

Nonfarm payrolls data for September was scheduled to be released on Friday, but may now be delayed due to disruptions in federal agencies. 

The print is expected to provide more definitive cues on the labor market– whose cooling was a major motivator of the Federal Reserve’s September rate cut. 

Doubts over more rate cuts also crept into markets this week, following a slew of hawkish comments from Fed officials.

Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan flagged heightened caution over future interest rate cuts, stating that the labor market will need to deteriorate further for the central bank to consider more rate cuts.