2021.09.0818:35:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Lower For 2nd Straight Day As Dollar Stays Firm

Gold futures settled lower on Wednesday, losing ground for a second straight session, as the dollar climbed up against its peers.

However, uncertainty about the pace of global economic recovery due to the spread of the Delta variant of coronavirus in several countries limited gold's downside.

The dollar index rose to 92.86 around late morning, pared some gains subsequently, and was around 92.65 by 2 PM ET.

Gold futures for December ended down by $5.00 or about 0.3% at $1,793.50 an ounce.

Gold futures pared some losses after the Federal Reserve's Beige Book revealed that the economic growth in the Fed's districts downshifted slightly to a moderate pace in early July through August,

Silver futures for December ended lower by $0.317 at $24.056 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $4.2330 per pound, down $0.0485 from the previous close.

Data released by the Labor Department this morning showed the number of job openings in the US rose by 749,000 from a month earlier to a new series high of 10.934 million in July, adding to signs of labor supply constraints.