Gold futures rose Wednesday as U.S. stocks slipped, despite employment data that showed continued labor market strength.
The contract for April delivery, the most heavily traded, settled up 0.9% at $1241.80 a troy ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures are now up about 17% on the year, according to FactSet figures.
Stocks fell Wednesday even though private payrolls in the U.S. rose by 214,000 in February, according to payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and Moody’s Analytics. Gold, considered a safe-haven asset, typically rises when riskier assets like stocks sell off.
The advance in gold comes after it dipped on Tuesday, when U.S. stocks posted their biggest one-day gains since January. Positive economic data—including a better-than-expected reading on a gauge of the manufacturing sector, higher U.S. auto sales, and more robust construction spending—fueled demand for riskier assets.
Gold had been lower Wednesday in early London trading, following a stock-market rally in China that was buoyed by expectations that Chinese policy makers would seek additional stimulus measures to boost the economy.
This story originally appeared on The Wall Street Journal by Mike Cherney and Ese Erheriene on March 2, 2016. View article here.
