Gold futures are modestly higher Monday morning, with investors continuing to pick the safe-haven asset amid concerns about growth following the detection of a new variant of the coronavirus, and possible stricter restrictions on movements.
New cases of the variant were found in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Australia. Several countries, including the U.S. and Japan have imposed travel restrictions.
The dollar's retreat from higher levels is supporting the bullion. The dollar index, which climbed to 96.36, is at 96.17, up 0.08% from the previous close.
Gold futures for December are up $7.90 or nearly 0.5% at $1,793.40 an ounce, after advancing to $1,798.90.
Silver futures for December are up $0.143 or 0.62% at $23.250 an ounce, while Copper futures for December are gaining $0.0740 or 1.73% at $4.3575 per pound.
The World Health Organization, which held an emergency meeting on Friday, declared the new virus variant a matter of concern, noting its transmissibility.
The new variant has been red-flagged by scientists over an alarmingly high number of spike mutations that might make the virus more resistant to vaccines.
While the WHO has said it could take weeks to understand the variant's severity, a South African doctor who has treated cases said symptoms so far seemed to be mild.
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