21.09.202018:38:00UTC+00Gold Futures Settle Sharply Lower As Dollar Rises On Safe-haven Appeal

Gold prices tumbled on Monday as global equities plunged and the dollar moved higher amid mounting concerns about a surge in coronavirus cases in Europe and fears of widespread lockdown measures.

The dollar moved up on safe-haven demand as virus jitters haunted sentiment and took a toll of riskier assets such as equities.

The dollar index rose to 93.78, and despite dropping to 93.68 subsequently, was up more than 0.8% from previous close.

Gold futures for December ended at near two-month lows, falling $51.50 or about 2.6% to settle at $1,910.60 an ounce, after plunging to a low of $1,885.40 an ounce around mid-morning.

Silver futures for December ended down $2.742 at $24.387 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $3.0320 per pound, losing $0.0840.

Markets were also looking ahead to speeches from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. They are scheduled to speak before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday.

Several Fed members, including Charles Evans, James Bullard, John Williams and Mary Dally are scheduled to deliver speeches at various events during the course of this week.

European stocks crashed today, sending the key indices down sharply. The U.K.'s FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 tumbled 3.38%, 4.37% and 3.74%, respectively. The pan European Stoxx 600 slid 3.24%.

The major U.S. averages are sharply lower. The Dow is down 2.85%, the S&P 500 is sliding 2.2% and the Nasdaq is lower by about 1.4%.