Gold prices fell on Monday, deepening losses for the second straight day, and pulled back from a 3-week high on profit-taking, weighed down growing odds of a US interest rate hike next March.

Gold prices fell 0.2% to $1,796.45, after opening at $1,799.09, and hit a day high at $1,804.09.

Gold closed lower by 0.1% on Friday, due to profit-taking from a 3-week high of $1,814.27 hit on Thursday.

Gold prices gained 0.8% last week, the first weekly gain in 5 weeks, due to strong demand as a safe haven.

Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Christopher Waller said on Friday that the Fed is likely to raise interest rates soon after it ends the bond-buying program.

Gold stocks at the SPDR ETF rose 0.87 metric tonnes on Friday, with the total at 978.57 metric tonnes.

Oil prices fell over 5% on Monday, deepening losses for the second straight day and hit a 2-week low due to fears over a global demand for fuel and increasing market surplus, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in most parts of the world, and warnings from the World Health Organization.

US crude fell 5.2% to the lowest since December 6 at $66.67 a barrel, after opening at $70.35, and hit a high at $70.35, and Brent crude fell 4.6% to the lowest since December 3 at $69.64 a barrel, after opening at $72.76, and hit a high at $72.80.

The US crude lost 2.25% on Friday, and Brent fell 2.25%, due to the increasing Omicron cases.

Oil prices lost around 2.5% last week, the seventh straight weekly loss, due to renewed concerns about the market balance.

The spike in Omicron-Covid cases in Europe and the US raised concerns about the return of lockdown restrictions which would impact the global fuel demand.

The British Health Minister refused to rule out re-imposing further restrictions before the Christmas holidays, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reportedly considering urging the public to limit household mixing at Christmas.

The Netherlands went into lockdown on Sunday, with more lockdown restrictions looming before the Christmas and New Year holidays in many European countries.

The World Health Organization said on Saturday that Omicron cases are doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with community transmission, adding that there are still limited data on the clinical severity of Omicron.

Baker Hughes revealed on Friday that the US drilling and exploration rigs rose by 4 rigs to a total of 475, the highest level since the week ending April 10, 2020.

The increase in the US drilling activity boosted the US production by more than 47% since mid-2016 to a total of 13.1 million barrels per day in March 2020, and held recently around 11.7 million bpd due to the coronavirus pandemic, marking the US place as the world's largest oil producer.

USD/JPY tilted lower in Asian trade away from November 26 highs for the second session in four, amid a lack of data from Japan and ahead of US data later today.

As of 06:23 GMT, USD/JPY fell 0.21% to 113.46, with an intraday low at 113.4, and a high at 113.72.

Bank of Japan's policymakers voted to maintain rates at a negative 0.10% as expected, while deciding to extend its financial support program for the coronavirus for another 6 moths until late September 2022.

BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda noted the constant economic uncertainty, now due to the Omicron variant, while adding that a weaker yen is favorable to Japanese exports.

From the US, the CB leading index is expected up 0.9% in November following the December 14-15 meeting, at which policymakers decided to maintain rates at below 0.25% while doubling the rate of reducing the bonds purchases program to $30 billion a month.

The Fed now expects 3 rate hikes in 2022, and another three in 2033, and two hikes in 2024.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that controlling inflation is the key now to support a sustained economic expansion, however it's a highly complex issue especially with the advent of Omicron.

The US dollar rose against most currencies on Friday, on safe haven demand after the market absorbed the central bank data.

The Fed kept the interest rate between zero and 0.25% unchanged, and to reduce asset purchases by $30 billion per month, starting in January, double of what was previously announced of $15 billion per month.

The European Central Bank reveled its plan to end the bond-purchasing program worth 1.85 trillion euros ($2.2 trillion) by the end of March, but decided to continue with the asset purchase program launched before the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bank of England surprised the markets after it decided to raise interest rates by 15 basis points to 0.25%, in the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.

The dollar index rose against a basket of major currencies 0.5% to 96.5 points as of 19:51 GMT, after hitting a high of 96.5 points and a low of 95.8 points.