Gold futures settled higher on Wednesday, gaining for a third straight session, as the dollar drifted lower after data showing a slowdown in U.S. private sector employment growth and a downward revision to second-quarter GDP added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates.<\/p>\n
The dollar index dropped to 102.94 this morning, and despite recovering to 103.19, remains weak, losing about 0.33%.<\/p>\n
Gold futures for December settled higher by $7.90 or about 0.4% at $1,973.00 an ounce.<\/p>\n
Silver futures for December ended down $0.035 at $25.104 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.8440 per pound, gaining $0.0050.<\/p>\n
A report from payroll processor ADP showed private sector employment in the U.S. climbed by 177,000 jobs in August after surging by an upwardly revised 371,000 jobs in July.<\/p>\n
Economists had expected private sector employment to advance by 195,000 jobs compared to the jump of 324,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.<\/p>\n
The slightly smaller than expected increase in private sector employment added to recent optimism about the outlook for interest rates.<\/p>\n