NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Gold and silver futures fell Wednesday as the U.S. dollar rose from a five-month low against the euro after data showed the European economy shrank 2.5% in the first quarter. The dollar also got a boost after major Asian central banks said they are prepared to keep buying Treasurys. The dollar index rose Wednesday for the first session in five. A stronger dollar reduces gold's investment appeal. Gold for June delivery fell $5.70, or 0.6%, to $977.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. July silver fell 8.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $15.85 an ounce. The white metal touched a 10-month high of $16.25 in overnight trading. Meanwhile, copper declined for a second session, continuing its slide from the highest level in more than seven months. Copper for July delivery lost 1.3 cents, or 0.6%, to $2.2845 a pound. Helping pushing copper lower, the ADP employment index released Wednesday indicated the U.S. private sector continued job cuts, eliminating 532,000 net jobs in May. The job losses, however, were the smallest since November. The index comes two days before the government releases its estimate of May nonfarm payrolls. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch are looking for payrolls to drop by 500,000 in the government survey, which would be the smallest decline since October. See full story. Despite Wednesday's losses, gold is still up more than 10% this year and silver is up 40%. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust , the biggest exchange-traded fund backed by gold, stood at 1,134.03 metric tons Tuesday, unchanged from a day ago, according to latest data from the fund. Holdings in iShare Silver Trust the biggest silver ETF, stood at 8,605.43 metric tons, slightly lower than the previous day's record high of 8608.54 metric tons. As for futures trading in the other metals, July platinum gained $7.10, or 0.6%, to $1,250.50 an ounce, while September palladium contract slid $1.35, or 0.5%, to $250 an ounce.

Source