Gold closes near 9-year peak for second straight day

Gold futures rose Wednesday, as the US dollar fell against its rivals, which lifted the precious metal to a nearly 9-year peak for the second straight day.

Coronavirus confirmed cases have surpassed 12 million globally, with a death toll of 545,000 victims.

Some in the US called for another lockdown restrictions to contain the spiking infection rate.

The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.4% to 96.4 points as of 19:40 GMT, after it hit a high of 97.05 and a low of 96.4.

Gold August futures rose 0.6% to close the highest since September 14, 2011 at $1,820.6 an ounce, after hitting a day high of $1,829.8 and a low of $1,803.8.