Investing.com - Gold prices eased from one-month highs on Wednesday, pressured by a surge in the dollar, after the release of bullish U.S. private sector job growth.
Gold for April delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange lost $10.35, or 0.82%, to $1,247.50 a troy ounce by 13:18 EDT.
Gold futures struggled to hold onto gains before turning negative, after ADP and Moody's Analytics said U.S. private employers added 263,000 jobs for the month. That was well above economists’ expectations of 187,000.
The stronger than expected private payrolls report raised expectations for a bullish Labor Department Nonfarm payrolls report expected to be released on Friday.
Meanwhile, a slowdown in the services sector capped selling pressure in the yellow metal, after a report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that non-manufacturing activity slowed more than expected to 55.2 from 57.6 in February.
The release of the Federal Open Market Committee minutes from the March meeting, expected at 14:00 EDT (19:00 BST), is likely to be closely monitored by investors, to gauge whether there has been a significant change in tone from the Federal Reserve concerning monetary policy.
Gold is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion.
The stronger dollar weighed on silver futures, as the precious metal lost 0.82% to $18.172, a troy ounce while copper gained 2.6% to trade at $2.680.
Copper has rallied as China returned from a two-day break to buy up metals.
Platinum lost 0.60% to $958.65 while Natural Gas shed 0.43% to $3.279.