WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After surging in the previous session, gold saw some further upside on Wednesday as investors focused on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine peace discussions and upcoming U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
Front Month Comex Gold for February delivery crept by $16.70 (or 0.34%) to $4,920.40 per troy ounce.
Front Month Comex Silver for February delivery soared by $1.1230 (or 1.35%) to $84.165 per troy ounce.
Discussions between the U.S. and Iran on Iran's nuclear program are scheduled to take place in Muscat, Oman, this Friday. Experts feel that Iran may press the U.S. to lift its sanctions on Iran's exports.
U.S. envoy Steven Witkoff and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are likely to head their respective teams with Oman acting as a host, according to Tasnim, Iran's semi-official news agency.
Though a de-escalation of tensions in the Middle East is the objective, analysts are doubtful after the U.S. military shot down an Iranian drone that approached the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Tuesday.
Previous U.S.-Iran talks held in Oman in 2025 on Iran's nuclear program did not yield any concrete resolution.
Weeks before, ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump, a U.S. naval fleet assembled near Iran.
Following this, Trump threatened Iran with harsh attacks if it fails to come to negotiations over its nuclear plans.
In the U.S., data provided by Automatic Data Processing revealed private businesses added 22,000 jobs in January 2026 following a downwardly revised increase of 37,000 jobs in December 2025 and below forecasts for the addition of 48,000 jobs.
Further, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America's data revealed that the U.S. Purchase Index decreased to 165.40 in the week ended January 30 from 193.30 of the previous week.
The S&P Global Composite Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 53.0 in January 2026, above the preliminary 52.8 and December's 52.7, pointing to a solid expansion in private-sector activity.
The Institute for Supply Management's services PMI remained unchanged at 53.80 in January. The business activity increased to 57.40 in January from 55.20 in December of 2025.
The brief period of partial U.S. Federal Government shutdown that began last Friday ended today.
A funding bill signed after hours of negotiation between Senate Republicans and Democrats was voted favorably by a 217-214 margin in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and landed on Trump's desk.
After signing the bill, Trump called it 'a great victory for the American people.'
The less-than-a-week partial shutdown has delayed the release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.
The data could shed light on the national employment market and indicate which way the U.S. Federal Reserve would decide on interest rates in the coming months.
In late January, the Fed decided to keep the rates unchanged which was in line with market expectations.
Various investment banks, including JPMorgan, have recently reaffirmed their upside projections on gold prices for 2026, which gave a boost yesterday to the yellow metal.
In the United Arab Emirates, negotiators from Russia and Ukraine commenced a second round of talks on the U.S.-authored peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
Earlier, Russia had warned that the war (which it calls a 'special military operation') may not end until Ukraine accepts Russian terms.
Meanwhile, Russia struck Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, while Ukraine shelled Russia-occupied Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region of Ukraine.
The U.S. dollar index was last seen trading at 97.69, up by 0.26 (or 0.27%) today.
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