2020.08.2411:06:00UTC+00Gold Edges Higher As Dollar Eases

Gold prices were a tad higher on Monday as the dollar eased on improved risk appetite, making bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Spot gold rose half a percent to $1,950.37 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 0.6 percent at $1,959.10 per ounce.

Hopes for a coronavirus treatment as well as signs of a thaw in U.S.-China tensions limited further gains in the safe-haven metal.

The dollar is moving lower as investors looked ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole meeting later in the week, where Chair Jerome Powell will talk on the Fed's monetary policy framework review. It is expected that the U.S. central bank will reiterate its pledge for ultra-low rates.

Risk sentiment received a boost today after the U.S. FDA announced an emergency use authorization for the use of convalescent plasma in helping treat patients with Covid-19.

President Donald Trump hailed the FDA's decision and claimed the treatment could reduce the mortality by 35 percent.

Investors also cheered a report in the Financial Times saying that the Trump administration is considering by-passing normal U.S. regulatory standards to fast-track an experimental coronavirus vaccine from the U.K. for use in America ahead of the nation's upcoming presidential election.

Meanwhile, a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the matter said that Trump's team is privately seeking to reassure U.S. companies that they can still do business with the WeChat messaging app in China.