(Bloomberg) -- Gold rose to an eight-week high aided by a weaker dollar and lower real rates, as investors awaited the outcome of elections in Georgia that will determine control of the Senate and President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda.

Bullion could benefit if Democrats win the two seats in the runoff contest as it would mean an easier path to approving more fiscal stimulus, according to Credit Suisse Group AG analyst Fahad Tariq. Polls in the state closed amid record-breaking turnout, but there is a chance the winners will not be determined for days, or even weeks, as mail-in votes and others are counted.

Gold is being supported into the new year after posting the biggest annual gain in a decade as the coronavirus continues to spread in some parts of the world and clouds the outlook for a recovery. Suki Cooper, a precious metals analyst at Standard Chartered Bank, said the bank doesn’t see the world returning to pre-pandemic growth rates anytime soon, despite the emergence of vaccines.

“We still think the broader macro environment for gold remains very supportive in light of low interest rates, accommodative monetary policy and fiscal stimulus,” Cooper told Bloomberg TV. “We’re going to see further dollar weakness into this year and that continues to set a favorable backdrop for gold. In fact, given the policy responses we’re likely to see around the globe, we’re likely to see that dollar weakness persisting beyond 2021.”

Spot gold climbed as much as 0.3% to $1,955.38 an ounce, the highest since Nov. 9, and traded at $1,952.21 at 9:11 a.m. in Singapore. Platinum shed 0.6%, but is still near a 2016 high. Silver and palladium were steady. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was flat after ending Tuesday at the lowest since 2018.

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