Gold prices fell on Monday, to head for the first daily loss in 3 days, as the US dollar rose against its peers amid calm trading due to the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Gold prices fell 0.2% to $1,805.08, after opening at $1,807.96, and hit a day high at $1,811.86.

Gold closed higher by 0.3% on Thursday, before the Christmas on Friday, thanks to falling dollar.

Gold prices gained 0.6% last week, the second straight weekly gain, due to strong demand as a safe haven.

The dollar index rose more than 0.1% today, which weighs down on dollar-denominated metals.

The greenback fell after an unexpected blow to President Joe Biden's spending plans, after moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said he would not support the $1.75 trillion domestic investment bill.

The dollar is rebounding thanks to growing odds of a US interest rate hike, amid historical inflationary pressures in the US, which are expected to accelerate the pace of monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF remained unchanged on Thursday, with the total at the lowest level since April 2, 2020 973.63 metric tonnes.

USD/JPY tilted higher in Asian trade off December 6 lows following a spate of data from Japan and amid a lack thereof from the US.

As of 06:10 GMT, USD/JPY rose 0.10% to 114.32, with an intraday high at 114.47, and a low at 114.31.

From Japan, retail sales rose 1% in November, compared to a 1.2% increase in October, while rising 1.9% on a yearly basis, compared to a 0.9% rise in October, besting expectations of 1.7%.

Bank of Japan revealed the minutes of its last meeting, at which it maintained rates at negative 0.10% as expected while extending its Covid financial support program for six months until September 2022.

The US dollar held against most currencies on Friday, in calm trading due to the Christmas holidays.

The US Food and Drug Administration granted the emergency license to an antiviral treatment developed by Pfizer that reduces risk of hospitalization by 90%.

The White House stated that Pfizer's drug will not be available in abundance before the end of next summer.

The British government reported the highest daily count of Covid infections, which is more than 100,000 cases on Thursday, for the third straight day.

The stock and bond markets in several countries around the world are closed today in observance of the Christmas holidays, and will reopen next Monday.

The dollar index held against a basket of major currencies at 96.06 points as of 17:08 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.2 points and a low of 95.9 points.

The US stock and bond markets are closed today in observance of the Christmas holidays, and will reopen next Monday.

On Thursday, Dow Jones rose 0.5% or 196 points, and closed at 35,950, with a weekly gain of 1.7%, a day high of 36,060, and a low of 35,782.

S&P 500 rose 0.6% or 29 points to 4725, and registered a 2.3% weekly gain, with a high of 4740 and a low of 4703 points.

Nasdaq rose 0.8% or 131 points to 15,653, and registered a 3.2% weekly gain, with a high of 15,697 and a low of 15,528.