2023.05.3118:06:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Higher As Traders Await Vote On Debt Ceiling Bill

Gold futures settled modestly higher on Wednesday despite hawkish Fed expectations and signs of progress in the U.S. debt ceiling deal.

A firm dollar limited gold's upside. The dollar index climbed to 104.70, gaining 0.5%, before dropping to around 104.40.

Gold futures for August ended higher by $5.00 or about 0.3% at $1,982.10 an ounce.

Silver futures for July ended up $0.348 at $23.587 an ounce, while Copper futures for July settled at $3.6455 per pound, down $0.0240 from the previous close.

The debt-limit deal struck by U.S. President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy is heading toward a vote later today in the House of Representatives after clearing a crucial procedural hurdle.

Data from the Labor Department showed an unexpected increase in U.S. job openings in the month of April.

The report said job openings rose to 10.1 million in April from a revised 9.7 million in March, while economists had expected job openings to decrease to 9.4 million.

"While there are some concerns over the veracity of the JOLTS survey due to historically low response rates, the upshot remains that labor market strength remains robust," said Matthew Martin, U.S. Economist at Oxford Economics.

Continued strength in the labor market has raised concerns about the outlook for interest rates ahead of Friday's closely watched monthly jobs report.