02:00 PM EST, 12/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates prices.)

Gold traded higher midafternoon on Wednesday as the dollar and treasury yields fell after a report showed an unexpected drop in U.S. private-sector jobs last month, firming expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week.

Gold for February delivery was last seen up US$16.80 to US$4,237.60 per ounce.

The ADP Employment Report showed U.S. private-sector employment fell by 32,000 positions in November, down from a rise of 47,000 a month earlier and well below the consensus expectation for a rise of 40,000 jobs, according to Marketwatch.

The weak data firms expectations the Federal Reserve's policy committee will cut interest rates by 25 basis points when it ends its two-day meeting on Dec.10, with the CME FedWatch Tool now showing an 88.8% probability the committee will cut rates. Lower interest rates cut the carrying cost of owning gold.

The dollar weakened following the data, with the ICE dollar index last seen down 0.5 points to 98.86. Treasury yields also weakened, with the yield on the two-year note last seen down 2.4 basis points to 3.494%, while the 10-year note was paying 4.064%, down 3.1 points.