WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices moved higher on Monday as the dollar weakened against most major currencies after AstraZeneca resumed stage III clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine.
The vaccine news resulted in increased risk sentiment and triggered a rally in U.S. stocks, but the dollar's weakness proved a fairly decent trigger to support for the yellow metal.
Oxford University and AstraZeneca announced on Saturday about resumption of trials of the coronavirus vaccine following U.K.'s Medicines Health Regulatory Authority allowing resumption of trials.
AstraZeneca announced that it is working with other health authorities as to when they can resume the other studies on AZD1222.
AstraZeneca had halted trials of the vaccine early last week following an unexplained illiness of a patient in the U.K.
The dollar index, which dropped to 92.87 earlier in the day, was last seen at 93.06, down nearly 0.3% from previous close.
Gold futures for December ended up $15.80 or about 0.8% at $1,963.70 an ounce.
Silver futures for December moved up $0.498 to settle at $27.355 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.0680 per pound, gaining $0.285 for the session.
Traders are looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy statement, due on Wednesday. The Bank of Japan and the Bank of England are also scheduled to announce their monetary policy decisions this week.
Notwithstanding positive news about potential coronavirus vaccines, the continued surge in coronavirus cases in several countries, including the U.S., India and Brazil, has raised concerns about global economic growth.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX