CHICAGO, July 3 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose Wednesday due to a fall in the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) service index.

The most active gold contract for August delivery rose 8.5 dollars, or 0.68 percent, to settle at 1,251.9 dollars per ounce.

ISM reported Wednesday that its gauge of the non-manufacturing sector index fell to 52.2 percent in June, worse than expected. Meanwhile, accelerating violence in Egypt and chaotic selling of stocks and bonds in Portugal Wednesday also underpinned gold.

Gold price growth, however, was limited Wednesday due to the release of some upbeat U.S. economic figures. Automatic Data Processing reported Wednesday that the private sector of the United States added 188,000 jobs in June, the biggest monthly gain since February and higher than the increase of 160,000 private jobs predicted by economists.

The U.S. Labor Department also said that the initial jobless claims declined by 5,000 to 343,000 in the week ending June 29, better than forecast.

Floor trading of gold will be closed for the U.S. Independence Day, which fall on Thursday. Regular trading for Comex will resume Friday.

Silver for September delivery gained 39.1 cents, or 2.02 percent, to close at 19.7 dollars per ounce. Platinum for October delivery dropped 21 dollars, or 1.54 percent, to close at 1,346.8 dollars per ounce.