AMSTERDAM/ LONDON: Gold jumped more than 1% on Wednesday after weaker-than-expected US ADP payrolls data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep its interest rates low for longer, sending the dollar and bond yields lower.
Spot gold was up 1.1% to $1,830.21 per ounce at 0954 am EDT (1354 GMT), breaking out of the relatively tight range it has seen for most of this week.
US gold futures gained 1.2% to $1,835.10 per ounce.
“The disappointing US ADP employment numbers have persuaded markets that the Fed is likely to be quite accommodative for a long time,” said Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
“If we continue to get poor numbers economically and worries surrounding economic performance because of the spread of the Delta variant, technically, we could easily see gold move to the $1,850 per ounce mark.”
ADP data showed the US economy created 330,000 private-sector jobs in July, less than half the number economists had forecast.
The data pulled the dollar index 0.2% lower, while benchmark US 10-year yields fell to a two-week low, increasing the appeal of non-yielding bullion.
Also triggering inflows into safe-haven assets such as gold, Wall Street’s main indexes fell on concerns around slowing economic growth and renewed COVID-19 fears.
Friday’s US non-farm payroll report could now be key to the US central bank’s policy stance.
Economists in a Reuters poll forecast a 926,000 rise in July’s non-farm payrolls.
“Today’s ADP numbers gives us a clue on what non-farm payroll numbers could be like. So if we see another miss on Friday, it will be less likely that the Fed will start their tapering process and gold should remain strong,” said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.
Elsewhere, silver climbed 1.4% to $25.91 per ounce, after hitting a three-week high in the session.
Platinum gained 0.3% to $1,052 per ounce, while palladium was up 1.1% at $2,678.
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