Gold prices fell on Monday as the U.S. dollar rose against its major counterparts amid worries about weakening demand in China and repeated rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to cool inflation.
Spot gold fell 0.7 percent to $1,738.59 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were down 0.9 percent at $1,739.0.
Three people died in Beijing over the weekend and the country logged a record jump in daily cases, despite a stringent zero-COVID policy.
Authorities locked down part of the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou for five days and urged residents of the sprawling Chaoyang district to remain at home today.
Apart from the weakened demand outlook due to China's COVID curbs, a potential nuclear crisis in the Russia-Ukraine conflict amid heavy shelling of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant also helped spur safe-haven demand for the U.S. dollar.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has called for "urgent measures to help prevent a nuclear accident" in the Russian-occupied facility, of which it said parts were damaged but showed no signs of a radiation leak.
