Gold closes lower as firm dollar, stocks weigh

Gold prices fell today, as investors' appetite for riskier assets as stocks and the US dollar dented the safe-haven appeal of precious metals.

The US Federal Reserve will unveil its interest rate decision tomorrow, with forecasts for the bank to keep the rate unchanged, and will be followed by a press conference from the Fed's chief Jerome Powell.

The Chinese government is continuing its fight against to contain the coronavirus, and confirmed today that 106 people had died from the coronavirus, with more than 4,800 infected cases.

The US, France, Germany and several Asian countries also revealed confirmed cases with the coronavirus, but Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed confidence in his government's ability to contain the deadly disease.

The dollar index rose against a basket of currencies by 0.1% to 98.05 points at 20:18 GMT, after hitting a high of 98.1 and a low of 97.9.

Gold futures (due February) dropped 0.5% to close at $1,569.8 an ounce, with the day high at $1,582.2 and the low at $1,566.1.