COMEX futures closed Monday at their highest level since early November as the dollar slipped ahead of Georgia's two-seat Senate run-off.
13:30 on January 4 in New York (02:30 on January 5, Beijing), COMEX February gold futures, the most actively traded, rose 51.50 US dollars, or 2.7 percent, to settle at 1946.60 US dollars an ounce.
March silver futures, the most actively traded, rose 95.2 cents to settle at $27.364 an ounce.
Platinum futures fell $7.70 in April to settle at $1071.5 an ounce.
March palladium futures fell $62.60 to settle at $2391.20 an ounce.
Among other COMEX metals, copper for March delivery, the most actively traded, rose 3.55 cents to settle at $3.5545 a pound.
Jeffrey Sica, founder of Circle Squared Alternative Investments, said, "there is the possibility of major stimulus measures, which will lead to a further fall in the dollar."
The dollar index hit a two-and-a-half-year low, making gold cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Investors are watching Tuesday's Senate run-off in Georgia, which will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
Sica added: "this week's Senate election is likely to be a major subversive event, resulting in a rise in gold prices."
Ed Moy, chief strategist at Valaurum, said that the recent sharp increase in novel coronavirus infection, hospitalization and death toll, as well as novel coronavirus is obviously highly contagious, the price of gold will rise in the short term.
"this could lead to a significant increase in monetary and fiscal stimulus in the US, which in turn puts downward pressure on the dollar and pushes up gold prices," he said in an email comment.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 16:22 Eastern time (05:22 in the morning of Beijing on January 5), the number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection in the United States had reached 20757339. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 infection reached 352858. Compared with 24 hours ago, there were 183834 new confirmed cases and 1581 new deaths.
