(RTTNews) - The price of gold was moving lower Wednesday morning as the U.S. dollar was steady versus a basket of currencies ahead of ADP private sector employment data.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, was down $9.60 to $1,606.40 an ounce. Yesterday, gold snapped it two-session winning streak to shed over 2 percent as traders trimmed their positions to cover losses in other markets.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved down to 1,229.51 from 1,232.23 tons.
Meantime, the U.S. dollar was trading flat versus the euro and sterling, while ticking lower versus the Swiss franc and the yen.
In economic news, euro zone composite output index fell slightly more than initially expected in September, final data from Markit Economics showed. The composite output index fell to 49.1, signaling first contraction in private sector activity since July 2009, from 50.7 in August.
A report from Eurostat revealed retail sales in the euro zone declined in August on weak non-food product sales. Retail sales were down 0.3 percent month-on-month in August, reversing a 0.2 percent rise in July. The August figure came in line with economists' expectations.
Meanwhile, U.K.'s second quarter economic growth was revised down to 0.1 percent from 0.2 percent sequentially, data from Office for National Statistics showed. On the production front, output of the service and construction industries increased by 0.2 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. At the same time, output of the production industries fell by 1.2 percent, within which manufacturing rose by 0.2 percent.
Elsewhere, the prices of silver and platinum were moving lower in morning deals.
In economic news, the U.S. the ADP will release its private sector employment report at 8.15 a.m. ET. Economists expect an addition of 90,000 jobs by the sector in September.
