With gold rising in Asia on Tuesday morning, investors remained cautious about the impact of the Omicron COVID 19 variant on the recovery of the global economy.

Gold futures rose 0.29% to $ 1,790.30 by 10:24 EST (3:24 pm GMT).

Omicron has already closed its borders in several countries, casting a shadow over economic recovery.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Monday that he expects inflation to fall during 2022 as the supply-demand balance improves. However, he added, “the recent surge in 19 COVID cases and the emergence of Omicron variants pose a downside risk to employment and economic activity and increase inflationary uncertainty.

“Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen testify later that day at a Senate Banking Commission hearing and the following day at the Home Finance Services Commission.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, on Monday, the European Central Bank sought to ease investor concerns about Omicron by saying that the eurozone economy had learned to deal with the continuous wave of COVID 19.

In the Asia Pacific region, China’s Manufacturing Purchasing Management Index (PMI) was 50.1 in November, while non-manufacturing PMI was 52.3, according to data released earlier that day. In Japan, according to October employment data, the employment/application rate was 1.15 and the unemployment rate dropped to 2.7%. Industrial production also increased by 1.1% from the previous month.

For and other precious metals, silver was stable at $ 22.88 an ounce, while platinum and palladium rose 0.4%. Russia’s Norilsk, the world’s largest producer of palladium, has raised its investment estimate from 2021 to 2030 to $ 35 billion. This will allow Nornickel to improve its manufacturing infrastructure and improve its long-term outlook for PGM production.