2019.11.0618:20:00UTC+00Gold Futures Rebound, Settle Notably Higher

Gold prices moved higher on Wednesday, rebounding from recent losses, as the dollar weakened a bit and equities stayed largely subdued.

Reports about the U.S. and China considering rolling back some tariffs, as they aim to finalize a partial trade deal, helped trigger some interest in the yellow metal.

The dollar index weakened to a low of 97.78 earlier in the day, and despite having recovered to 97.96 by mid afternoon, was still trailing its previous closing level.

Gold futures for December ended up $9.40, or about 0.6%, at $1,493.10 an ounce.

Gold futures for December had declined by about 1.8% on Tuesday.

Silver futures for December ended up $0.030, at $17.598 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.6650 per pound, down $0.0355 from previous close.

In economic news, preliminary data from the Labor Department showed labor productivity in the U.S. unexpectedly edged lower in the third quarter, dipping by 0.3%, after spiking by an upwardly revised 2.5% in the second quarter.

The drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected productivity to climb by 0.9% compared to the 2.3% jump originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said unit labor costs soared by 3.6% in the third quarter after surging up by a downwardly revised 2.4% in the second quarter.

Economists had expected unit labor costs to jump by 2.2% compared to the 2.6% spike originally reported for the previous month.

In trade news, the U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are widely expected to sign phase one of the agreement sometime this month.

The two sides are working to narrow their differences enough to sign a "phase one" trade deal that could allow the U.S. to scrap tariffs on about $156 billion worth of Chinese imports currently set to take effect on December 15.

According to reports, both countries are looking for a location to sign the so-called phase one trade deal that would thaw tensions between the two economic powerhouses.