Investing.com – Gold prices moved off session lows shrugging off the prospect of further Federal Reserve rate hikes amid upbeat labor market data pointing to underlying strength in the US economy.
for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $1.30, or 0.10%, to $1,319.90 a troy ounce.
The recent rally in gold futures came under pressure amid investor concerns that continued upbeat US economic data could strengthen the case for the Fed to raise rates more than currently priced in.
grew by 250,000 for December, a sharp increase from the 185,000 private jobs created in the previous month, according to a report released Wednesday by ADP and Moody’s Analytics. That beat economists’ forecast of 191,000.
Bank of Montreal said the ADP data showed robust gains “across the board” and could raise expectations for a bullish non-farm payrolls report due Friday, which would keep the Fed on track for more rate hikes.
In a rising interest rate environment, investor appetite for gold weakens as the opportunity cost of holding the precious metal increases relative to other interest-bearing assets such as bonds.
Losses in gold, however, were capped by a continued slump in the greenback as it struggled to rebound from three-month lows.
In other precious metal trade, rose 0.05% to $17.27 a troy ounce, while gained 0.64% to $968.80.
traded at $3.26, rose 0.11%, while fell 3.96% to $2.89. The fall in natural gas comes amid data showing natural gas storage fell by 206 billion cubic feet, missing expectations for a draw of 219.43 billion cubic feet.
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Source: Investing.com
