Gold falls below $1,800 on rising dollar

Gold prices fell on Wednesday, as the US dollar rose near its highest level in 2021 against most of its counterparts, despite growing concerns about the coronavirus.

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

The US government revealed that the average infection during the past seven days until Friday was about 30,000 cases, which is higher than June's average of 8,000 cases.

Several countries around the world are facing a new wave of infections, but some governments decided to start easing lockdown restrictions.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies by 0.1% to 93.06 points as of 12:26 GMT, after hitting a high of 93.1 points and a low of 92.9 points.

Gold spot prices fell 0.7% to $1,799.2 an ounce as of 12:27 GMT.