* Investors mull impact of U.S. election on fiscal cliff
* Indian gold importers await price direction
By David Brough
LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Gold steadied near a nine-week low on Tuesday as investors assessed the potential impact on policy from the outcome of the neck-and-neck U.S. presidential election.
Spot gold rose 0.30 percent to $1,689.01 by 1448 GMT but stayed close to Monday's nine-week low of $1,672.24. U.S. gold futures for December rose $6.20 to $1,689.40.
On Friday prices slid more than 2 percent after stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs data lifted the dollar.
Investors were also alert to the start of a 48-hour strike on Tuesday by tens of thousands of Greek workers to protest a new round of austerity cuts.
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney faced the verdict of U.S. voters on Tuesday after a long and bitter White House campaign, with polls showing them deadlocked in a race that will be decided in a handful of states.
Some analysts say an Obama victory could boost bullion, because it would keep Ben Bernanke at the helm of the Federal Reserve maintaining an ultra-easy monetary policy, while a Romney victory would be a positive for stocks based on business-friendly policies and tax cuts.
Money printing by central banks boosts gold's appeal as it keeps interest rates at a low level, reducing the opportunity cost of holding a metal that has no yield outside its actual value.
Gold jumped to nearly $1,800 an ounce last month on central bank stimulus measures but has since eased.
"If Obama wins, we would be certain Ben Bernanke would remain in office as Federal Reserve chairman at least until his normal term expires," Peter Fertig, a consultant with Quantitative Commodity Research, said.
"The overriding sentiment in the gold market after the election will be the outcome in dealing with the looming fiscal cliff," he added.
POLICY QUESTION
Given that the Republicans seen retaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, a victory for Obama would be seen as raising the risk of policy paralysis.
If Congress cannot agree on new arrangements, about $600 billion in government spending cuts and higher taxes will kick in early next year, the so-called fiscal cliff, which is seen hurting U.S. economic growth while underpinning safe-haven assets.
"An Obama win is potentially supportive to gold because of the possibility of a much more difficult (policy) negotiation," said David Wilson, analyst with Citigroup.
"With a Republican-dominated Congress, negotiations would be somewhat easier for a Romney government."
David Govett, head of precious metals at Marex Spectron, said in a market note: "Popular thinking is that Obama is good for gold, while Romney is negative, but to my mind this will be a knee-jerk reaction and what is more important is the resolution of the so called 'fiscal cliff'."
HSBC said in a note that the outcome of the U.S. election is likely to determine the direction of gold in the short term.
"A Romney victory in the presidential race could push interest rates up, and an Obama re-election could lower them," it said.
"Lower interest rates historically have helped gold prices and higher rates have been gold-negative."
Gold importers in India stayed on the sidelines awaiting price direction ahead of potential policy spin-offs from the U.S. presidential elections.
"If the rupee remains depressed, it will weigh on gold buying," Wilson said.
India's gold imports could fall to 550 tonnes next year, after touching 967 tonnes in 2011, as high inflation and prices bite into disposable incomes of consumers, the head of a trade body said on Tuesday.
AngloGold Ashanti on Tuesday suspended operations at its Mponeng mine in South Africa after a sit-in protest just two days after striking miners returned to work.
Gold is expected to remain above a support zone of $1,675-$1,678 per ounce for one more trading session, as there is no indication of a break below this zone, according to Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Spot platinum was down 0.18 percent at $1,536.49 and spot palladium rose 0.90 percent to $614.47.
