Gold prices jumped on Monday, rising for the third straight day, due to strong safe-haven demand, amid fears over the spread of the new coronavirus variant "Omicron," and concerns over travel restrictions.

Gold prices rose 0.6% to $1,799.41 an ounce, after opening at $1,788.10, and hit a low at $1,779.45.

Gold gained 0.2% yesterday, the second gain in a row, within recovery from a 3-week low of $1,778.45 an ounce.

Gold prices lost 3.1% last week, in the second straight weekly loss, and the largest weekly loss since June, due to the US dollar.

The risks were that Omicron is highly resistant to current vaccines, with cases already reported in the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong, which raises fears over the speed of the spread and the current vaccines ability to prevent it.

More countries re-imposed travel restrictions to prevent the new variant, but these measures seem inefficient in preventing the rapid spread of infection.

BioNTech said on Friday that it'll know in just two weeks whether its vaccine is capable of protecting people from the new Covid19 variant. 

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF rose 1.74 metric tonnes on Friday, with the total at the highest level since September 24 of 992.85 metric tonnes.

Euro fell in European trade against dollar away from week highs, resuming the losses after two days of gains away from 16-month lows, with markets calming down again after the initial shock of the new Covid 19 variant Omicron, and as investors await clearer data on its risks and prevention strategies.

EUR/USD fell 0.4% to 1.1260, with an intraday high at  1.1317, after rising nearly 1% on Friday, the second profit in a row, and the largest in 2021, marking week highs at 1.1330.

It's the largest weekly gain since December 2020 as investors shun risks and but low-yield currencies after the Omicron Covid 19 variant spread around the world.

It was first discovered in South Africa, which prompted many country to close travel to this country , and some like Japan and Israel completely shut their borders.

The risks were that Omicron is highly resistant to current vaccines, with cases already reported in the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong.

Pfizer said that it'll know in just two weeks whether its vaccine is capable of protecting people from the new Covid19 variant. 

Oil prices fell on Friday, amid a broad sell-off wave in the market, weighed down by the growing Covid-19 concerns.

Concerns increased around the world after a new Covid-19 variant emerged called "Botswana", as it first appeared in the African country.

Scientists said that the new variant has 32 mutations in the spike protein.

Accordingly, this would help it escape more easily from the human immune system and spread quickly.

The dollar index fell against a basket of major currencies by 0.6% to 96.1 points as of 17:46 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.7 points and a low of 96.02 points.

As of 17:33 GMT, WTI January futures fell 11.9% to $69 a barrel.

Brent January futures fell 10.3% to $73.7 a barrel.

The Australian dollar fell against most of its peers on Friday, despite the release of upbeat economic data, amid concerns over the return of travel restrictions and global closures.

Concerns increased around the world after a new Covid-19 variant emerged called "Botswana", as it first appeared in the African country.

Scientists said that the new variant has 32 mutations in the spike protein.

Accordingly, this would help it escape more easily from the human immune system and spread quickly.

Data showed today that the Australian retail sales index rose 4.9% during October, beating forecasts of 2.2%.

As of 16:27 GMT, AUD/USD fell 1% to 0.7118, after hitting a high of 0.7199 and a low of 0.7112.