WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices fell on Monday and the dollar strengthened as policymakers around the world moved to limit the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Spot gold fell 1.7 percent to $1,503.81 per ounce, after having fallen 3 percent on Friday. U.S. gold futures were down 0.8 percent at $1,504.25 per ounce.
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates to almost zero in another emergency move to shore up the world's largest economy.
It is part of a coordinated action announced on Sunday in the U.K., Japan, eurozone, Canada, and Switzerland.
The U.S. central bank also unveiled a massive asset-buying program, similar to measures put into place during the global financial crisis.
Earlier today, New Zealand's central bank followed suit by slashing interest rates by 75 basis points to a record low in an attempt to cushion the economic blow.
The People's Bank of China offered CNY 100 billion or $14.3 billion into the financial system via one-year medium-term lending facility today, but kept its borrowing cost unchanged.
The central bank last week had reduced the reserve requirement ratio by 50-100 basis points for qualifying banks to shore up the economy hit by the outbreak of covid-19.
The Bank of Japan today unveiled a series of emergency monetary policy measures to shore up the world's third-largest economy, as the coronavirus pandemic threatens a global recession.
In Australia, the Reserve Bank pumped extra liquidity into the banking system to ensure businesses and households have access to credit amid the coronavirus outbreak.
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