WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices rallied on Friday and the dollar paused its relentless march as the precious metal regained some of its safe-haven appeal amid fears over the economic hit from the coronavirus.
California's 40 million people remain under lockdown today in the most drastic quarantine efforts by a U.S. state to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, as the global toll surged with Italy surpassing China as the country with the most deaths from the pandemic.
Spot gold rallied 2.2 percent to $1,504.87 after having fallen 1 percent in the previous session. U.S. gold futures were up 1.9 percent at $1,507.50.
The dollar weakened against other major currencies as China reported zero new domestic coronavirus cases for the second day and massive relief packages announced by global central banks and governments helped to ease fears of an impending coronavirus-induced recession.
The U.S. Federal Reserve said it would establish temporary swap lines with other nine central banks as part of coordinated action to improve liquidity in the financial markets.
In a joint statement, the Fed said it will extend U.S. dollar liquidity arrangements with the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Banco Central do Brasil, the Danmarks Nationalbank, the Bank of Korea, the Banco de Mexico, the Norges Bank, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the Sveriges Riksbank.
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