16.03.202010:56:00UTC+00Gold Prices Fall As Dollar Strengthens

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.