New York, January 7, 2026, 13:40 ET — Regular session.
- GLD down about 0.9% in afternoon trade as bullion pulls back from a one-week high
- ADP shows December private payrolls rose 41,000; job openings fell to 7.146 million
- Focus shifts to Jan. 9 U.S. employment report, then the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting
SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), a popular proxy for the gold price in U.S. stock trading, fell 0.9% on Wednesday, tracking a pullback in bullion after a recent run. The ETF was at about $409.60 in early afternoon trade.
The dip matters now because gold has been trading like a rates product as much as a haven. After a sharp rally, investors are stripping out leverage ahead of a dense stretch of U.S. labour data and a late-month Federal Reserve meeting.
Gold pays no interest. When traders lean toward Fed cuts, the metal tends to benefit as yields fall and the dollar cools. When the jobs market looks firmer, the logic flips fast.
Spot gold slipped 1.1% to $4,445.32 per ounce by 11:16 a.m. ET, after touching a one-week high earlier in the session, Reuters reported. U.S. gold futures were down 0.9%. “We’re viewing today’s pullback as general profit taking after that recent surge,” said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. Reuters
U.S. private payrolls rose by 41,000 in December, missing economists’ expectations for a 47,000 gain, the ADP National Employment Report showed. Separately, job openings fell by 303,000 to 7.146 million in November, a sharper drop than forecast, according to the Labor Department’s JOLTS report.
Gold-linked equities lagged the metal. VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) fell 1.7%, while Newmont was down about 1.0% and Gold Fields slid 3.6%. The smaller iShares Gold Trust (IAU) tracked GLD lower, off roughly 0.9%.
But the pullback has an edge. If Friday’s jobs report surprises on the upside, yields and the dollar could jump and push gold lower again, and miners can magnify the move as costs don’t fall in step with the metal.
The next trigger is the U.S. Employment Situation report for December, due Friday, January 9, at 8:30 a.m. ET. Traders then look to the Fed’s January 27-28 policy meeting for the next read on how quickly rate cuts might come.
