Gold ends higher after lower-than-expected data

Gold futures rose on Wednesday, while the US dollar held against most of its peers after the release of lower-than-expected economic data in the US.

ADB data showed today that the US private sector added 742K new jobs in April, the largest monthly rise since September, missing forecasts of 872K.

The data comes two days ahead of the US Labor Department's monthly jobs report for April.

The ISM US services PMI fell to 62.7 points in April from 63.7 points in March, worse than forecasts of 64.2 points.

The dollar index held against a basket of currencies at 91.3 points as of 19:35 GMT, after it hit a high of 91.4 points and a low of 91.1 points.

Gold June futures rose 0.5% or $8.30, and closed at $1,784.3 an ounce.