Investing.com - Gold prices edged higher on Wednesday, after data showed U.S. job growth hit an 18-month low in March, underlining worries over the strength of the economy.
Comex gold futures tacked on $2.25, or about 0.15%, to $1,297.25 a troy ounce by 8:25AM ET (12:25 GMT).
Meanwhile, spot gold was trading at $1,293.14 per ounce.
Private payrolls increased by just 129,000 for the month, according to ADP, well below the 184,000 that economists surveyed by Investing.com had expected. That was the worst reading since September 2017.
The disappointing data added to signs that the hiring boom may be running out of steam after an expansion stretching back nearly 10 years.
“The job market is weakening, with employment gains slowing significantly across most industries and company sizes,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in a statement.
“Businesses are hiring cautiously as the economy is struggling with fading fiscal stimulus, the trade uncertainty, and the lagged impact of Fed tightening. If employment growth weakens much further, unemployment will begin to rise,” he added.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was at 96.60, after going as low as 96.52 earlier, its weakest since March 28.
Meanwhile, U.S. Treasury yields pushed higher, with the benchmark 10-year yield rising to 2.51%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond climbed to 2.92%.
In other metals trading, silver futures were flat at $15.05 a troy ounce.
Elsewhere, palladium futures shed 0.5% to $1,393.80 an ounce, while platinum jumped 2% to $869.60 an ounce.
-- Reuters contributed to this report