2021.03.0318:58:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower As Dollar Rises

Gold prices drifted lower on Wednesday, weighed down by a stronger dollar and a surge in U.S. Treasury yields.

The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury Note increased to 1.48% this afternoon, after Joe Biden's pledge to have enough vaccine doeses to immunize every adult in the U.S. by the end of May. The yield on 10-year Treasury Note had dropped to 1.41% on Tuesday, well off the near 1.6% level seen last week.

The dollar index, which rose to 91.06, subseuqently dropped to 90.82 before recovering to 90.92, netting a gain of about 0.15%.

Gold futures for April ended down $17.80 or about 1% at $1,715.80 an ounce, the lowest close in nine months. Gold futures slipped to a low of $1,699.40 in the session.

Silver futures for May ended down $0.492 at $26.387 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.1420 per pound, down $0.0800 from previous close.

On the U.S. economic front, payroll processor ADP released a report showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of February.

ADP said private sector employment rose by 117,000 jobs in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 195,000 jobs in January.

Economists had expected employment to increase by 177,000 jobs compared to the addition of 174,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.