Investing.com -- Gold ticked up on Wednesday, as the dollar fell sharply against a basket of rivals, helping provide a slight boost to the yellow metal in quiet, range-bound trade.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, Gold for December delivery traded between $1,346.10 and $1,363.35 an ounce before settling at $1,352.00, up 5.20 or 0.39% on the session. Gold closed higher for the third time in five sessions and nine of the last 12. With the slight gains, Gold remained percentage points away from 28-month highs at $1,374 an ounce. Since opening the year around $1,075 an ounce, Gold has soared approximately 25% year to date and is on pace for one of its strongest years in a decade.
Gold likely gained support at $1,337.50, the low from July 20 and was met with resistance at $1,391.40, the high from March 14, 2014.
Investors continue to closely monitor U.S. employment data for a gauge on the strength of the labor market, following last Friday's robust jobs report for the month of July. On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that job openings rose by 2.0% in June to 5.624 million from a relatively soft revised annualized rate of 5.514 million a month earlier. Analysts expected to see slight increases on the month to 5.588 million.
At the same time, the Labor Department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed there were 5.1 million hires in June, an increase of 1.7%, offset slightly by 2.9 million quits on the month. The mild increase in monthly job openings was driven by an increase in job postings in the durable goods manufacturing sector.
Over the last several weeks, a host of policymakers on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) have indicated that a September interest rate hike could be on the table if the labor market continues to show improvement and inflation moves closer to its targeted goal of 2%. On Wednesday, the CME Group's (NASDAQ:CME) Fed Watch tool placed the probability of a December rate hike at 37.8%, up from around 30% last week.
Any rate hikes by the Fed this year are viewed as bearish for gold, which struggles to compete with high-yield bearing assets in rising rate environments.
Elsewhere, the Dollar fell by as much as 0.7% against the Yen after reports showed that Japan's core machinery orders surged by 8.3% in July, representing its first monthly gain in three months. Analysts expected to see a gain of 3.4% on the month. In the U.K., the Bank of England said it would make up a £52 million shortfall in bond purchases, one day after investors refused offers to sell long-dated gilts to the central bank in a reverse auction. GBP/USD rallied above 1.30, bouncing from near one-month lows on Tuesday at 1.2992.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell more than 0.50% to an intraday low of 95.38. The index has tumbled more than 1.5% since hitting four-month lows in late-July.
Dollar-denominated commodities such as Gold become more expensive for foreign purchasers when the dollar appreciates.
Silver for September delivery surged 0.347 or 1.75% to 20.197 an ounce.
Copper for September delivery gained 0.022 or 1.02% to 2.172 a pound.