Gold prices fell on Tuesday, backing off the 6-week high hit yesterday, to head for the third straight daily loss on profit-taking, while the US dollar continued to recover against a basket of major currencies.

Gold prices fell more than 0.5% to $1,866.58 an ounce, after opening at $1,876.97, and hit a high of $1,884.23.

The yellow metal lost 0.2% yesterday, and posted its second straight daily loss on profit-taking from 6-week high of $1,906.74.

The dollar index rose more than 0.3% today, extending its gains for the third day in a row, which weighs down on gold and other dollar-denominated metals prices.

Despite the positive news about approving a new fiscal stimulus in the US and Bloomberg's report about progress in the trade talks between the UK and the EU, investors remain concerned about the new Covid-19 strain, which increased demand for the US dollar.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF rose 2.04 metric tonnes yesterday, the first daily increase since November 20, with the total at 1,169.86 MT.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday, deepening losses for the second straight day, as the US crude pulled back from its 10-month high and Brent backed off its 9-month high on correction and profit-taking, in addition to renewed global demand concerns due to warnings about the newly identified coronavirus strain in the United Kingdom.

US crude fell 2.6% to $46.63 a barrel, after opening at $47.86, and hit a session-high at $47.94, and Brent fell 2.5% to $49.57 a barrel, after opening at $50.84, with a high of $50.86.

US crude lost 2.4% yesterday, in its the first daily loss in 6 days on correction and profit-taking from its 10-month high of $49.29 a barrel.

Brent crude futures fell 2.8%, in the biggest daily loss since October 29, after hitting the highest since last March at $52.46 on Friday.

The British government identified a new coronavirus strain and warned that it spreads more quickly, and announced a tighter lockdown in  London, and other parts in the southeast

Some reports suggest that the new Covid-19 strain could be up to 70% more transmissible than the original strain, and the World Health Organization said that the new strain is expected to be in other countries, including Australia, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Denmark.

Most European countries have suspended flights coming from the United Kingdom, to prevent the new variant from spreading in their lands, which was followed by a similar move from Canada, Saudi Arabia, India, Pakistan, Russia, Jordan and Hong Kong.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman completely announced suspending flights from all countries until January 10.

These developments renewed concerns about the tightening of global lockdowns, and their impact on the demand for fuel.

Asian stock indices opened the second session of the week mixed, with Japan, China, Australia, and South Korea lower, while New Zealand and Hong Kong rose, amid reports of a new highly infections strain of coronavirus in the UK. 

From Australia, retail sales rose 7%, up from 1.4% in October, while Australian government put travel restrictions to Sydney amid surging Covid 19 cases there. 

South Korea announced new sharp gathering restrictions as coronavirus cases hit new record highs on Sunday, with another infection record hit in Tokyo. 

US Congress passed a $900 billion financial rescue bill to combat coronavirus impact after a long stretch of bilateral negotiations.  

Japan's TOPEX fell 0.88%, while Nikkei 225 declined 0.38% to 26,613.

China's CSI 300 fell 0.01%, while Shanghai slipped 0.28% to 3,411.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.03%, while South Korea's KOSPI shed 0.46% to 2,765. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 rose 1.44% to 12,788, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 0.90% to 6,610.

USD/JPY tilted higher in Asian trade off March 10 lows for the second session out of four, ahead of some US data today. 

As of 06:50 GMT, USD/JPY rose 0.12% to 103.44, with an intraday high at 103.48. 

From the US, GDP growth is expected at 33.1% in the third quarter, compared to a 31.4% tumble in the second quarter. 

US Richmond manufacturing index is expected down to 11 from 15, while the consumer sentiment index is expected up to 97.1.  

US existing home sales are expected down 1% to 6.70 million units,while Congress passed a $900 billion financial rescue bill to combat coronavirus impact.