Gold rises as Omicron fears offset strength in dollar

Shafaq News / Gold prices edged higher on Monday as concerns over the impact of the Omicron coronavirus variant offset a stronger dollar, with investors assessing whether the emergence of the variant could change the U.S. Federal Reserve's hawkish stance.

Spot gold rose 0.2% to $1,794.87 per ounce by 0646 GMT, while U.S. gold futures advanced 0.5% to $1,794.20.

With new cases of the Omicron variant found in the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia, more countries imposed travel restrictions to try to seal themselves off.

Barot also said while it was too soon to gauge if virus concerns have eased rate hike expectations, there is an upside risk for gold that the variant eventually leads the Fed to scale b…