Early trading of the Asian session saw gold traded slightly higher after concerns over the Omicron variant supported the precious metal’s appeal.
On Friday, the discovery of a new Covid-19 variant in South Africa shocked the market, causing most major currencies to fall lower and the US dollar to be affected as well.
US 10 -year bond yields fell lower below 1.50% on concerns it would slow the recovery of US economic growth, benefiting gold to post gains of $ 1,814.
However, the commodity slumped again towards the end of Friday's trading, bringing it back below $ 1,800 an ounce.
In the Asian session, the yellow gold metal rose slightly at $ 1,794 per ounce, rising from a low of $ 1,776 per ounce. Gold futures are $ 1,796 per ounce.
Concerns about this latest threat have forced countries around the world to implement border restrictions as they are believed to be more resilient than existing vaccines.
However, such variants have begun to be detected around the world, with the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia reporting several cases being discovered over the weekend.
