Gold prices moved sharply higher during trading on Wednesday, more than offsetting the modest pullback seen in the previous session.
After edging down $2.20 or 0.1 percent to $4,304.50 an ounce on Tuesday, gold jumped $43 or 1.0 percent to a new record closing high of $4,347.50 an ounce.
The surge by the price of gold came as traders continued to digest yesterday's closely watched monthly employment report.
While report showed stronger than expected job growth in November, the increase followed a notable loss of jobs in October.
The report said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 64,000 jobs in November after tumbling by 105,000 jobs in October. Economists had expected employment to rise by 50,000 jobs.
The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in November, reaching its highest level since hitting 4.7 percent in September 2021.
Concerns about the strength of the labor market may have increase gold's safe haven appeal along with escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers in Venezuela.
In a Truth Social post, Trump declared the government of President Nicolas Maduro a foreign terrorist organization and said he was ordering a "total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers" going into and leaving Venezuela.
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Market Analysis
December 12, 2025 15:14 ET Central bank decisions dominated the economic news flow this week led by the Federal Reserve. Trade data from the U.S. also gained attention. The Canadian and Swiss central banks also announced their interest rate decisions. Inflation data from China was in focus as the country released the latest consumer price and producer price data.