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· Bullion is considered a hedge against inflation that could result from the large stimulus measures unleashed in 2020, gaining over 22% so far this year.

· Also on investors’ radar, the United States imposed sanctions and a travel ban on 14 Chinese officials over their alleged role in Beijing’s disqualification of elected opposition legislators in Hong Kong.

· “This is a seasonally strong period for gold prices and we just went through a capitalization event, in which a lot of the weaker hands in gold have been shaken out of the market,” said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.

· Gold has recovered more than 5% since slumping to a five-month low on Nov. 30, with November also marking bullion’s worst month in four years, pressured by hopes of a vaccine-fuelled economic recovery.

Meanwhile, Britain was set to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week.

· On the technical front, the breach of the $1,850 resistance level signals further gains for gold, analysts said.

· Platinum was 2.1% lower at $1,031.92, having earlier shed as much as 4.8%.

· Silver gained 1.5% to $24.53 per ounce.

· Palladium fell 0.3% to $2,336.13.

· The Week That Was: Jobs report seems to confirm need for new stimulus

CNBC’s Dominic Chu looks back at the week’s top business and financial stories

· U.S. dollar hovers around two-and-a-half year low; Analysts see further weakness in 2021

The U.S. dollar is currently hovering around lows last seen in April 2018 as investors continue to pour back into riskier assets, and analysts expect this weakness to persist into 2021.

· Congress aims to fund government for a week to buy time for spending, Covid relief deals

Congress aims to extend government funding for an additional week while lawmakers try to scrape together spending and coronavirus relief packages, Republican and Democratic leaders said Monday.

The House plans to vote Wednesday on the short-term measure to keep the government running through Dec. 18, according to Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., later reiterated the plan.

Funding will lapse on Saturday if Congress cannot approve a spending bill. Politico first reported plans for a one-week extension.

The decision to buy more time comes as lawmakers rush to reach agreement both on a broad appropriations plan and a package to boost the health-care system and economy as a sustained Covid-19 infection surge stresses hospitals across the country. Congressional leaders previously signaled they wanted to tie aid provisions to a funding proposal.

· Congress faces Christmas showdown with Trump over tech and defense bill

The U.S. Congress will return to Washington during its Christmas holiday break if necessary to override President Donald Trump’s threatened veto of a $740 billion defense bill, lawmakers said on Monday, with one senior Republican saying Trump’s stance risked “punishing” the troops.

Trump last week repeatedly vowed to veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, if it does not repeal a law that protects companies like Alphabet Inc’s Google, Twitter Inc and Facebook Inc from liability for what appears on their platforms.

· Small businesses are more financially stressed during the Covid crisis, says ANZ CEO

Few large corporations have collapsed due to the coronavirus-induced crisis, and it’s the small and medium sized companies that are shutting down, says Shayne Elliott, CEO of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, who outlined benefits in the current business climate that may help businesses.

· Education Department extends student loan payment pause for 42 million borrowers amid Covid crisis

· FDA could authorize Pfizer’s Covid vaccine this week as U.S. deaths surge

· ‘V Day’ is coming: The UK prepares to roll out Covid vaccine to the public on Tuesday

· Pfizer, Moderna decline invite to White House’s ‘Vaccine Summit’

Pfizer and Moderna rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s invitation to attend a White House “Vaccine Summit” scheduled for Tuesday, Reuters reported.

The meeting — which comes ahead of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s review of the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine candidates — will be attended by Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and private-sector drug distributors, pharmacies and logistics companies such as McKesson, Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS Health, United Parcel Service and FedEx.

Stat News reported earlier that Pfizer and Moderna would not be attending the summit, citing sources familiar with the event’s planning.

· Trump to sign ‘America First’ Covid-19 vaccine order prioritizing Americans

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday that will direct federal agencies to prioritize Americans as the administration seeks to facilitate the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, a senior administration official told NBC News.

· CORONAVIRUS UPDATES:

Global Cases: 67.90M (+502,683)

Global Deaths: 1.54M (+7,908)

U.S. Cases: 15.35M (+181,007)

U.S. Deaths: 290,373 (+1,435)

· New York City could close indoor dining next week, Cuomo says

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday the state could close indoor dining in New York City and slash capacity elsewhere across the state if current hospitalization trends continue.

“We’re going to clamp down on indoor dining. Five days, if the hospitalization rate doesn’t stabilize in New York City, we’re going to close indoor dining,” he said at a news briefing. “Do I believe between now and five days we’ll see a stabilization rate in New York City? I would be pleasantly surprised. I don’t think it is probable, but it is possible.”

He reiterated that even more restrictions will be necessary if hospitals reach a critical point. Cuomo said that based on the seven-day average hospitalization rate, if a region is projected to hit a 90% capacity level within three weeks, the state will implement a “shutdown” on the region.

· Travel needs to return from April or some airlines might disappear, CEO says

The CEO of British aviation and energy firm Stobart Group warned that air travel needs to start again from April, or some airlines might vanish.

“Airlines absolutely need a positive injection, and that means really from April, we need to get people traveling. I think without that, the government are probably going to need to support the airlines in fact, or they’ll disappear, you’ll get a consolidation of airlines,” Warwick Brady told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Monday.

“Unfortunately, for the traveling public that’ll be less choice and things will be much more expensive and I think it’ll be a big hit to the economy,” he added. Travel data company Cirium has estimated that 43 commercial airlines from across the globe have failed since January, but has also warned that the worst is not over.

Stobart Group owns London Southend Airport and provides services such as baggage handling at other U.K. airports.

· Brexit talks reach critical point as UK says chances of deal are receding

The U.K. and European Union have reached a critical point in their Brexit negotiations, as the deadline for a trade deal nears but an agreement remains elusive.

The U.K. left the European Union in January but agreed to continue following EU trade rules until the end of the year so both sides could come to a new trade agreement. However, their negotiations have dragged on for months, and without a clear end in sight, there are growing concerns the talks could collapse without a deal.

· Britain’s Boris Johnson to travel to Brussels in final push for a Brexit trade deal

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to travel to Brussels this week in a final push to clinch a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.

Johnson will meet European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in person after two phone calls between the leaders failed to bear fruit.

· U.S. ends exchange programs with China, calling them ‘propaganda’

The U.S. State Department said on Friday it has ended five cultural exchange programs with China, calling them “soft power propaganda tools.”

The Department said on its website it had “terminated” - The Policymakers Educational China Trip Program,

- The U.S.-China Friendship Program

- The U.S.-China Leadership Exchange Program

- The U.S.-China Transpacific Exchange Program

- Hong Kong Educational and Cultural Program.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the move. Attempts to reach representatives for the programs singled out by the State Department were not immediately successful.

· U.S. slaps sanctions on 14 Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdown

· Georgia recertifies U.S. presidential election results, confirming Biden victory

· Biden names key players to COVID-19 response, plans more Cabinet nominations this week

· Biden expects to announce pick for on defense secretary on Friday