Gold futures rose Wednesday for the first session in three, climbing back above $900 an ounce as safe-haven buying returned, helped by data indicating another hefty month of job losses in the U.S.
Gold for February delivery was up $15.80, or 1.8%, at $907.80 an ounce in early morning trading on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had closed below $900 in the previous session.
The U.S. private sector shed 522,000 jobs in January, according to the ADP employment index.
"The rise we have seen today is pointing to an investment against economic uncertainty and a disturbed financial system on many fronts," said Julian Phillips, editor at GoldForecaster.com.
The February contract expires on Feb. 20, with open interest, or total amount of outstanding contracts, remaining at 410,100 ounces as of Tuesday. Gold inventories held by the Comex for futures delivery stood at 2,806,596 ounces as of Tuesday, according to the latest data from the exchange.
The more active March contract also rose early Wednesday, up 1.1% to $902.40.
The ADP job data, which only cover private-sector jobs, suggested the government will report another month of big job losses Friday. Economists expect the Labor Department to report that payrolls have fallen by 525,000, which would be the fifth straight month of at least 400,000 jobs lost. See Economic Report.
In another report Wednesday, a consultancy firm said the number of planned job cuts announced in January rose to 241,749, a seven-year high. The January job-cut total was 45% higher than the 166,348 cuts announced in December, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
Limiting gold's gains Wednesday, the U.S. dollar rose against most of its major rivals. The dollar index was up 0.3% at 85.537 in early North American trade. A stronger dollar reduces gold's appeal as an investment alternative.
Separately, reserves of gold and gold receivables held by euro zone central banks inched up by 1 million euros last week, the European Central Bank reported Tuesday. It was the first such rise since November.
Eurosystem's gold and gold receivables totaled 218.32 billion euros in the week ending Jan. 30, reflecting the net purchase of gold coins by one Eurosystem central bank, the ECB said in a weekly report. Meanwhile, reserves of net foreign currency decreased 38.1 billion euros to 315 billion euros during the period.
SPDR holdings
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the largest exchange-traded gold fund, remained at an all all-time high of 853.37 tons Tuesday, unchanged from a day ago, according to latest data from the fund. The total was almost 10 tons higher than that reported a day earlier.
The SPDR Gold Trust added 0.3% to $88.80.
In other metals action Tuesday, March copper rose 1.4% to $1.5435 a pound, while March silver added 1.1% to $12.44 an ounce. March palladium fell 1% to $191 an ounce, while the April contract for sister-metal platinum gained 0.6% to $969 an ounce.
In other equities, shares of Barrick Gold Corp. , the world's largest gold mining company, gained 3% to $36.93, while Goldcorp Inc. advanced 3.3% to $29.11, and South Africa's Gold Fields Ltd. fell 1.5% to $10.44.
The Amex Gold Bugs Index , which tracks the share prices of major gold companies, rose 1.9% to 295.78.
The iShares Gold Trust ETF edged up 0.4% to $88.88, while the iShares Silver Trust ETF rose 0.4% to $12.37.
The Market Vectors-Gold Miners ETF gained 1.8% to $33.95.
