Gold Prices Show Notable Decline Amid Dollar Strength

(RTTNews) - Gold prices moved notably lower over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, extending the modest drop seen in the previous session.

The price of gold for February delivery slid $16.90 to $1,173.90 an ounce after dipping $3 to $1,190.80 an ounce on Tuesday.

The decrease by the price of gold came as the value of the U.S. dollar saw some strength on the day following the release of a slew of economic data.

Payroll processor ADP released a report this morning showing stronger than expected private sector job growth in November.

ADP said private sector employment jumped by 216,000 jobs in November following a downwardly revised increase of 119,000 jobs in October.

Economists had expected employment to climb by about 160,000 jobs compared to the addition of 147,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that personal income rose by more than expected in October, although the report also said personal spending increased less than anticipated.

The National Association of Realtors also released a report showing a slight uptick in pending home sales in October. NAR said its pending home sales index inched up by 0.1 percent.