On Wednesday gold prices were higher, putting the yellow metal on pace to suspend a three-day losing streak, as the dollar reacted negatively to ADP report.
Gold for June delivery
GCM5
the most-active futures
contract, was last up by $8.60, or 0.7%, to $1,191.80 an ounce, while
May silver
SIK5
tacked on 5 cents, or 0.3%, to $16.65 an ounce.
The dollar
DXY dipped about 0.2% against its peers, and a lower greenback can help dollar-denominated
commodities like gold as it makes them less expensive for holders of
other currencies.
The US currency turned lower against a basket of other major currencies on Wednesday, after data indicated that U.S. non-farm private employment rose less than expected in March, fuelling concerns over the strength of the U.S. labor market.
Payroll processing firm ADP registered that non-farm private employment rose by 189,000 last month, below expectations for an increase of 225,000. In February the economy created 214,000 jobs, with February figures upwardly revised from a previously reported 212,000.
Gold remains down for the holiday-shortened week, lower by about 0.7%, as some analysts have said they don’t expect big gains in the near term.
“Mining producers clearly do not expect the gold price to rise at all significantly in the coming months,” said analysts at Commerzbank Commodity Research in a note Wednesday, as they parsed data on producers selling their production forward.
On Tuesday, June gold settled 0.2% lower for the session, as prices lost around 2.5% for the month and roughly 0.1% for the quarter, based on the most-active contracts. Analysts said gold’s losses were limited thanks to some haven demand as U.S. stocks SPX sold off and investors worried about a Greek default.
In other metals trading, May copper HGK5 lost 2 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.72 a pound. July platinum PLN5 rose by $5.10, or 0.5%, to $1,148.50 an ounce, while June palladium PAM5 advanced by $7.55, or 1%, to $742.85 an ounce.
