2020.12.0909:43:00UTC+00Gold Eases From Near Two-week Highs

Gold prices fell on Wednesday as stimulus hopes and Covid-19 vaccine optimism helped improved investors' appetite for riskier assets.

Spot gold dropped 0.6 percent to $1,859.52 an ounce, after having climbed to its highest level since November 23 at $1,875.07 on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures were down 0.7 percent at $1,862.25.

Risk sentiment remains positive after the White House unveiled a $916 billion Covid-19 relief bill in a final dash to break a months-long logjam over new aid for the coronavirus-stricken U.S. economy.

In a statement on Twitter, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he had talked the plan over with Republican leaders as well as Trump and the new proposal includes "money for state and local governments and robust liability protections for businesses, schools and universities."

The European Central Bank meets Thursday, with analysts expecting the central bank to increase and extend the pandemic emergency purchase program.

On the vaccine front, Britain on Tuesday became the first Western nation to begin a wide vaccination campaign, while Johnson & Johnson said it expects to have results from its final trial for its single-dose coronavirus vaccine in January.

Brexit talks also remained on investors' radar as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson heads to Brussels this afternoon in a last-ditch bid to make a breakthrough in trade negotiations.

After Britain and the European Union agreed on the implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol and U.K., Brexit supremo, Michael Gove, told Sky News that there is now a "smoother glidepath" towards a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.