Gains seen at the end of the week in the US came against a backdrop of rising concern about the Delta variant, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying on Sunday the emergence of new variants could hinder the global economic recovery.
Australia has reported the highest daily cases for a year while the UK gears up to reduce restrictions in their entirety from July 19.
After positive moves on Friday, commodity markets weakened on Monday, with LME copper down 0.97% to US$9,451/t and Aussie iron ores 62% Fe CIF down 0.46% to US$218/t.
Gold slid marginally to trade just above the psychological US$1,800/oz barrier. It was valued at US$1,802/oz at 10am UK time on Monday.
