Gold prices rose on Monday, holding above the 2-week low hit on Friday, and consolidating above the $1,800 mark, as the US dollar fell against its peers.

Gold prices rose more than more than 0.5% to $1,811.53 an ounce, after opening at $1,802.21, and a high at $1,798.42.

Gold closed lower by 0.3% on Friday, in the third daily loss in 4 days, and hit a 2-week low at $1,789.68 an ounce, due to the US dollar's strong rise.

Gold prices lost more than 0.5% last week, due to a slowdown in demand.

The dollar index fell 0.25% today, to head for the first loss in 3 days against a majority of rivals, which lifts demand for dollar-denominated metal prices. 

The greenback is falling due to a slowing demand amid expectations that the once again rising Covid-19 cases will delay the Federal Reserve’s plans to lower the bond-buying program.

The US Federal Reserve's monthly meeting will start on Tuesday, amid broad anticipation of more cues over the future of the US monetary policy tightening.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF fell 1.17 metric tonnes on Friday, with the total at the lowest level since May 13 at 1,027.38 metric tonnes.

Oil prices fell more than 2% on Monday, to head for the first loss in 4 days, due to global demand concerns, after a spike in Covid-19 infections in some countries and the tightening of lockdowns, and massive floods in the central and eastern parts of China.

US crude fell more than 2.0% to $70.59, after opening at $72.06, and hit a day high at $72.40, and Brent crude fell 1.9% to $72.78, after opening at $74.15, and hit a day high at $74.48.

US crude gained 0.5% on Friday, and Brent crude futures rose 0.8%, in the third straight daily gain, thanks to expectations of a global supply deficit during the second half of this year.

Oil prices gained 2.75% last week, and posted the first weekly gain in 3 weeks, after OPEC-Plus announced an output hike starting from August as expected after resolving disputes between Saudi Arabia and the UAE. 

New Covid-19 cases continued to rise during the weekend in some major Asian countries, which led to increasing the lockdown restrictions.

Meanwhile, China is struggling to control the massive floods that hit the central and eastern parts of the country.

Baker Hughes revealed on Friday that the US drilling and exploration rigs rose by 7 rigs to a total of 387, the highest level since the week ending April 17, 2020.

The increase in the US drilling activity boosted the US production by more than 47% since mid-2016 to a total of 13.1 million barrels per day in March 2020, and held recently around 11.4 million bpd due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the US is still the world's largest oil producer.

The US dollar rose against most major currencies on Friday, as investors focused on major US companies earnings results for the second quarter.

The latest US companies that reported their quarterly were Twitter and Intel Corp.

Efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic are continuing around the world, especially after the emergence of the new highly spreading Delta variant.

The World Health Organization stated that coronavirus infections have increased in the US, Europe and Asia due to the new Delta strain, which has renewed fears of the pandemic spreading out of control.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 92.9 points as of 19:22 GMT, after hitting a high of 93.02 points and a low of 92.7 points.

Gold prices fell on Friday, as the US dollar rose against most major currencies, while investors turned to stock markets.

The latest US companies that reported their quarterly were Twitter and Intel Corp.

Efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic are continuing around the world, especially after the emergence of the new highly spreading Delta variant.

The World Health Organization stated that coronavirus infections have increased in the US, Europe and Asia due to the new Delta strain, which has renewed fears of the pandemic spreading out of control.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 92.9 points as of 19:33 GMT, after hitting a high of 93.02 points and a low of 92.7 points.

Gold spot prices fell 0.2% to $1,802.4 an ounce as of 19:34 GMT.