Gold approached historically high levels on Wednesday as stocks and bonds both tumbled following news that U.S. job vacancies in February hit their lowest levels since May 2001. Gold was up $2.90 per ounce, or 0.14%, at $2,041.10 per ounce.
While gold raced towards historic highs, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index declined by 0.3%. The S&P 500 was down 0.15% at Wednesday’s open, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained relatively unchanged.
Bonds were also on the decline on Wednesday, with the 10-year Treasury yield note falling to 3.313% following a weak ADP payrolls report that simultaneously indicated a rise in the demand for gold.
Stock declines followed Tuesday’s release of the monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which showed 9.93 million job openings in February, down from over 10.5 million in January. This amount was also lower than the 10.5 million that was forecast.
Although 145,000 jobs were added in March, this is still lower than the forecast 210,000 new jobs.