Gold holds steady, silver scales record high
Gold prices held steady on Wednesday, buoyed by weak private payrolls data that reinforced expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut next week, while silver hit a fresh record high.
Spot gold was little changed at $4,202.06 an ounce by 2:03 p.m. ET (1903 GMT), after hitting a session high of $4,241.29 earlier in the session.
U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled 0.3% higher at $4,232.50.
Silver steadied after touching a record high of $58.98 earlier in the session.
"This morning's miss on ADP data, combined with silver hitting all-time highs overnight," is supportive for gold, said RJO Futures senior market strategist Bob Haberkorn.
"Gold is following silver at the moment, with silver pulling back a little bit here."
U.S. private payrolls fell by 32,000 jobs in November, Wednesday's ADP employment report showed, missing economists' expectations for a 10,000-job increase.
CME's FedWatch tool now shows an 89% chance that the U.S. central bank will cut rates next week, while major brokerages also forecast an interest rate cut at the December 9-10 policy meeting.
Markets are still awaiting the delayed September Personal Consumption Expenditures data, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due on Friday.
Lower interest rates tend to favor non-yielding assets such as gold.
Silver is up 102% so far this year due to concerns about the market liquidity after outflows to the U.S. stocks, its inclusion in the U.S. critical minerals list and a structural supply deficit.
"The strength in silver is due to supply concerns at the exchange levels," Haberkorn said, adding that the metal could touch the $60/oz milestone shortly.
Copper prices also hit a record high on Wednesday on a weaker dollar, supply concerns and tighter availability of metal in warehouses registered with the London Metal Exchange.
Elsewhere, platinum gained 0.9% to $1,652.03 an ounce and palladium rose 0.4% to $1,466.98.
Source: Reuters.com
