Gold fails to sustain gain to above $1,200 per troy ounce

The price of gold went above $1,200 per troy ounce for a time Wednesday, but could not sustain trade at that price and ended the session in New York up $8.40 from Tuesday’s close to trade at 1,195.90 per troy ounce after peaking at $1,205.50 per troy ounce during the session.

Gold’s prices were helped by an anticipated uptick in demand for jewelry when India’s traditional wedding season begins later in the month.

Other precious metals did not follow gold higher as September silver dropped 14 cents to $18.28 per troy ounce and October platinum fell slightly to $1,586.20 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, September copper added 5 cents to $3.40 per pound, helped by a report from ADP Employer Services (NAS: ADP) which showed that 42,000 more workers were employed in the US private sector in July, 12,000 more than had been anticipated.

Three-month contracts for copper on the London Metal Exchange were up $80 to $7,505 per tonne.

Aluminium, zinc, tin, nickel, and lead all followed copper higher in London trade.