Gold Edges Higher As Investors Parse Latest Economic Releases

(RTTNews) - Gold prices advanced on Wednesday, rebounding from yesterday's decline, as investors analyzed today's U.S. economic releases while rate cut expectations intensify ahead of next week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting.

Front Month Comex Gold for December delivery rose by $12.70 (or 0.30%) to $4,199.30 per troy ounce.

Front Month Comex Silver for December delivery shed 6.20 cents (or 0.11%) to $57.921 per troy ounce.

On the economic front today, job numbers released by Automatic Data Processing revealed that U.S. businesses cut 32,000 jobs in November following an upwardly revised increase of 47,000 jobs in October. Economists had expected employment to rise by 10,000 jobs.

The unexpected drop in private sector employment has boosted expectations among investors that the U.S. Fed would lean towards easing the rates further.

Bureaus of Labor Statistics data revealed that year-on-year export prices rose by 3.8% in September, while import prices rose 0.3%.

The S&P Global Composite Purchasing Managers' Index recorded 44.9 in November 2025, down from 50.3 in October. The S&P Global Services PMI fell to 44.3 in November from 50.5 in October.

The Institute for Supply Management's services PMI edged up to 52.6 in November 2025 from 52.4 in October, pointing to the strongest growth in the services sector in nine months.

Mortgage Bankers Association of America's data revealed that the Purchase Index increased to 186.10 in November from 181.60 of the previous week.

U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he will announce the name of the next Fed Chair by early next year without hinting at who it would be. Kevin Hassett, an economic adviser to the president is the front-runner, according to reports. This has energized investors as he is a proponent of a low-interest regime, and he even went on to criticize the recent decisions by the central bank.

On the geopolitical front, in its efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, the Trump administration has been engaged in negotiations with Ukraine and Russia.

A meeting held in Florida on Sunday between U.S. officials and their Ukrainian counterparts was described as "optimistic" by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

A meeting between the U.S. envoy Steven Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin took place yesterday.

Russian officials called the talks "constructive" though they added "no compromise" was reached on the status of territories captured by Russia in Ukraine.

Foreign ministers of NATO member-nations are meeting in Belgium today to discuss the U.S. peace deal. Ukraine has the support of several EU nations who do not want Ukraine to make "territorial concessions".

As the talks have not yielded any breakthrough development, the safe-haven demand for the yellow metal persists.

According to the World Gold Council, global central banks stepped up gold buying in October, adding a net 53 tonnes to reserves, marking a 36% increase from September.

The U.S. dollar index was last seen trading at 98.86 down by 0.49% today.

Currently, CME Group's FedWatch Tool is indicating investors are betting on an 88.8% chance of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's upcoming December 9-10 meeting.