By Myra P. Saefong and Virginia Harrison , MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures seesawed between modest gains and losses Wednesday, as optimism about a timely resolution to Europe’s debt woes prompted some investors to leave their defensive shells, but the metal did get some support from disappointing U.S. economic data.
Gold for August delivery GCQ11 +0.46% , the most active contract, fell 50 cents to $1,536.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“Easing worries about the Greek debt crisis dampened the safe-haven appeal of the bullion, but the weaker dollar is expected to provide support to the sentiment,” analysts at ICICI Bank said in a note to clients.
Gold futures often move lower when investors show signs of taking on more risk, as the precious metal can be regarded as a safe-haven investment.
But gold prices also found support as weak economic data pressured the U.S. dollar, fueling some investment demand for the precious metal. Read more about the dollar.
In the U.S., a report from Automatic Data Processing Inc. ADP -0.31% showed that employment in the nonfarm private business sector rose a seasonally adjusted 38,000 in May, well below the 175,000 increase expected by economists. Read more about the ADP data.
The Institute for Supply Management said its gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity fell to 53.5% last month from 60.4% in April, marking its steepest one-month decline since 1984. Read about the ISM data.
Elsewhere in metals trading, silver prices pulled back after climbing over the past two sessions. July silver SIN11 -0.59% lost 57 cents, or 1.5%, to $37.74 an ounce.
Copper for July delivery HGN11 -1.32% declined 5.6 cents, or 1.3%, to $4.12 a pound.
Platinum for July delivery PLN11 -0.08% lost $7.40, or 0.4%, to $1,826.60 an ounce. Palladium for September delivery PAU11 +0.40% , the most active contract, shed 15 cents to $780.85 an ounce.
