2020.08.0518:54:00UTC+00Gold Futures Extend Gains To 4th Day, Hit Fresh Closing High

Gold prices continued to surge and hit fresh record high on Wednesday, and the futures contract extended its gains to a fourth straight day.

Optimism about U.S. lawmakers agreeing on a stimulus package, and the dollar's weakness pushed up gold prices.

The dollar index slipped to a low of 92.56 before recovering some lost ground. It was last seen hovering around 92.85, down nearly 0.6% from previous close.

Gold futures for December settled with a gain of $28.30 or about 1.4% at $2,049.30 an ounce.

Silver futures for September gained $0.862 at $26.890 an ounce, while Copper futures for September surged up $0.0225 to $2.9170 per pound.

There is some optimism that U.S. lawmakers will eventually reach an agreement on a new coronavirus relief bill. According to reports, Democratic leaders said they continue to make progress toward an agreement after meeting with Trump administration officials on Tuesday.

"We're making progress," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "We really went down issue by issue by issue, slogging through them,"

The comments from Schumer come after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., indicated he would support any agreement between Democrats and the White House.

According to a report from payroll processor ADP, private sector employment rose by 167,000 jobs in July after soaring by an upwardly revised 4.314 million jobs in June.

Economists had expected employment to surge up by another 1.5 million jobs compared to the 2.369 million job spike originally reported for the previous month.

Data from Commerce Department showed the U.S. trade deficit narrowed in the month of June. The Commerce Department said the trade deficit narrowed to $50.7 billion in June from a revised $54.8 billion in May.

A report from the Institute for Supply Management showed the pace of growth in the service sector unexpectedly accelerated in the month of July. The ISM said its non-manufacturing index inched up to 58.1 in July after spiking to 57.1 in June. Economists had expected the index to drop to 55.0.