Gold prices fell on Tuesday, and pulled back from a 3-week high, while on the cusp of the first daily loss in 3 days, due to profit-taking and firm US dollar.

Gold prices fell 0.8% to $1,845.02 an ounce, after opening at $1,860.32, and hit a high of $1,864.13.

The yellow metal gained 0.7% yesterday, its second straight daily gain after hitting a 3-week high at $1,875.61 on Friday.

The dollar index rose more than 0.15% today, extending its gains for the third straight day and hit its 2-month high of 91.13 points, which weighs down on the prices of gold and other dollar-denominated commodities.

The US dollar is shining as the best alternative investment due to investors' risk aversion, amid growing bets of a broad sell-off wave in Wall Street after the latest updates regarding the trading frenzy over the broadly shorted GameStop's share.

Doubts are mounting about Joe Biden's Covid relief plan, after Several Republican senators urged US President Joe Biden to reduce the size of his proposed $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief package to only $600 billion.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF fell 2.63 metric tonnes yesterday, with the total at the lowest level since June 12 at 1,157.50 MT.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, extending gains for the second straight day, as the US crude hit its 1-year high while Brent jumped to its 3-week, after OPEC increased its output less than expected in January, which shows that the group is still working on balancing the market.

US crude rose 1.8% to the highest level since February 2020 at $54.41 a barrel, after opening at $53.45, and hit a low of $53.45, and Brent crude rose 1.6% to the highest since January 13 at $57.22 a barrel, after opening at $56.34, and hit a low of $56.22.

US crude yesterday rose 2.6% yesterday, while Brent crude futures rose 2.4% and posted the biggest daily gain since January 8 thanks to improved risk appetite, after strong gains in Wall Street.

A survey by Reuters showed that OPEC production rose for the seventh month in January, but the increase was less than expected.

OPEC pumped around 25.75 million barrels per day in January, rising only 160K from December.

During the OPEC Plus meeting on December 3, the members agreed to abandon a planned increase in production of about 2 million barrels per day, while agreeing to increase supplies by only 500 thousand barrels per day as of January.

OPEC-Plus collation decided to increase output by only 500,000 barrels, instead of the 2 million barrels increase that was agreed upon starting this year. 

Saudi Arabia also announced a voluntary output cut of about one million barrels per day during February and March to balance the market.

Aramco, the world's largest oil company, projected that demand will return to pre-pandemic levels later this year.

Asian stock indices opened the second session of the week mostly higher in tandem with Wall Street, with Japan, China, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea higher, while New Zealand lost ground. 

The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to maintain rates at record low of 0.25%, while governor Philip Lowe is expected to testify ahead of the house of representatives later this week about the economic landscape. 

From Japan, the monetary base index rose 18.9%, up from 18.3% in December, while analysts expected 19.2%. 

Japan's TOPEX rose 0.68%, while Nikkei 225 climbed 0.61% to 28,262. 

China's CSI 300 rose 0.61% to 5,450, while Shanghai climbed 0.28% to 3,515.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.69%, while South Korea's KOSPI rose 2.52% to 3,133. 

New Zealand's NZX 50 fell 0.51%, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.39% to 6,755. 

USD/JPY tilted higher in Asian trade to near mid November highs, following earlier data from Japan and amid a lack thereof from the US. 

As of 06:55 GMT, USD/JPY rose 0.05% to 104.98, with a session-high at 105.03. 

From Japan, the monetary base index rose 18.9%, up from 18.3% in December, while analysts expected 19.2%.