Platinum drops as dollar rebounds from lowest since early 2015

Platinum prices fell over one percent in American trade as the dollar index rebounded for the second session away from the lowest since January 15, 2015, following earlier upbeat US labor and growth data for second quarter. 

As of 02:24 GMT, platinum fell 1.35% to $931.69 an ounce from the opening of $944.41, while the dollar index rose 0.47% to 92.68 from the opening of 92.25. 

Earlier US data showed the ADP Non-Farm Employment Change with a better than expected 237 thousand new jobs added to the economy in August, while markets now await the official payrolls report on Friday.  

The jobs report on Friday is expected to show the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.3%, and for average hourly earnings to slow down to 0.2%, as the economy is expected to have created 180K new jobs in August. 

Otherwise, the second reading for US GDP growth showed a solid 3.0% growth rate in the second quarter, up from 2.6% in the first reading, and besting expectations of 2.7%, while GDP prices rose 3.3%, up from 2.8% in the first reading, while analysts expected 3.0%. 

Finally, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell delivered a speech titled "The Role of Boards at Large Financial Firms" at the Large-Bank Directors Conference, in Chicago, where he asserted the need for strong financial institutions to support economic growth through lending, and strong and effective boards are an integral part of that.