21.12.202009:30:00UTC+00Gold Eases As Dollar Gains Ground On Safe-haven Demand

Gold prices fell slightly on Monday and the dollar pushed higher as Brexit talks remain deadlocked and many European nations halted flights to and fro from the U.K. amid unease over a new coronavirus strain that is shutting much of the United Kingdom.

Spot gold dipped half a percent to $1,871.86 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.8 percent at $1,874.70.

U.S. lawmakers agreeing to a $900 billion stimulus bill on Sunday is not helping the precious metal.

The British pound and oil were hit by fears over stuttering Brexit talks. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office said that the EU is "continuing to make demands that are incompatible with our independence."

The Prime Minister will chair an emergency response meeting today to review the situation after Canada as well as European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, ordered a suspension of flights from Britain.

All of London and much of southeastern England is now under strict "Tier 4" lockdown restrictions after the discovery of a new strain of the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which is said to be up to 70 percent more transmissible.