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Gold fell in Monday morning trading in Asia, but settled after hitting its lowest level in nearly two weeks. However, concerns about high numbers of COVID-19 cases in Europe helped limit some losses in gold.
While gold futures were down 0.26% at $1,846.80 by 11:17 PM ET. The dollar, which usually moves in reverse with gold, rose on Monday but fell from its record high on Friday.
Four government sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Japanese officials are working on ways to overcome restrictions imposed on the withdrawal of national reserves of crude oil, in coordination with other major economies, with the aim of curbing prices.
While Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hinted at the weekend that he was ready to do so after a request from Washington, Japan, the fourth-largest oil buyer in the world, is facing restrictions on the withdrawal of its reserves, which are public and private stocks that can usually only be used in times of shortages.
One of the sources said that the government is considering withdrawing from the stocks held by the state without compromising the minimum required as a legal solution.
Oil prices fell to a seven-week low on Monday, remaining under pressure after Japan said it was pressing to release oil reserves, and as the coronavirus situation worsened in Europe, raising concerns about oversupply and weak demand, Brent lost 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $78.63 a barrel, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.2%, to $75.82 a barrel.
