Gold prices on Wednesday were trading on either side of unchanged in the final day of the month and quarter as investors parsed privatesector employment data ahead of a key jobs report due later this week.
Commodity investors also were awaiting details on highly anticipated infrastructure plan from President Joe Biden, which could deliver another jolt to the pandemicstricken U.S. economy.
Earlier in the session, a privatesector report from ADP, ahead of the closely followed Labor Department data due on Friday, showed that the U.S. added 517,000 jobs in March, marking the biggest gain in six months as a decline in coronavirus cases allowed more businesses to reopen or expand hours.
The ADP report suggests the governments report to be released in a few days will be a strong one.
The privatesector report delivers further evidence of a strengthening U.S. economy that is being powered by a massive 1.9 trillion federal aid package and rollout of COVID vaccines.
Against the backdrop, gold has been under pressure lately, with the April contract adding 90 cents, or less than 0.1, to trade around 1,686.90 an ounce on Wednesday, following a nearly 1.7 slump for the precious metal on Comex. Prices based on the mostactive contract are trading around the lowest since March 8, according to FactSet data.
The main trend remains bearish and a clear break down of the support at 1,675 could open space for further declines while only a recovery to 1,750 would reverse the main negative…