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CHICAGO, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday on stronger U.S. data.
The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 5.1 U.S. dollars, or 0.39 percent, to settle at 1,311.4 dollars per ounce.
The precious metal was put under extensive pressure as U.S.-based Automated Data Processing released its employment projection for the month of August, showing better than expected figures.
The ADP employment measure grew to 177,000 which analysts note was lower than July's figure, but due to the nature of the U.S. seasonal employment, despite the fall, the figure remains better than expected.
The strong ADP employment report also raised expectations for a rate hike, assuming the Friday jobs report remains positive. Traders continue to believe that the Fed may raise rates from 0.50 to 0.75 during the December FOMC meeting.
According to the CME Group's Fedwatch tool, the current implied probability of a hike from 0.50 to 0.75 is at 30 percent at the September 2016 meeting, 36 percent at the November 2016 meeting, and 60 percent at the December meeting.
The U.S. Dollar Index put pressure on the precious metal preventing it from falling further as it fell by 0.06 percent to 96.00 as of 1900 GMT.
Silver for December delivery rose 3.4 cents, or 0.18 percent, to close at 18.707 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery dropped 3.1 dollars, or 0.29 percent, to close at 1,053.50 dollars per ounce.
