2020.02.2508:48:00UTC+00Gold Prices Ease From Seven-year High

Gold prices eased from a seven-year high on Tuesday, though concerns of a worsening economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak helped to limit overall losses to some extent.

Spot gold declined half a percent to $1,651.89 per ounce, after having risen as much as 2.8 percent to its highest level since January 2013 at $1,688.66 on Monday. U.S. gold futures were down 1.45 percent at $1,652.45 an ounce.

Virus concerns persist despite reports of continued drop in new virus cases in China outside Hubei.

Countries around the world stepped up efforts to prevent a pandemic of the flu-like virus, with the U.S. pledging $2.5 billion to fight the disease.

South Korea said it aims to test more than 200,000 members of a church at the center of a surge in coronavirus cases.

In Italy, the first board meeting for the Milan-Cortina Olympics was changed to a video conference Monday as authorities sought to contain a spreading virus that has made northern Italy the focal point of the outbreak in Europe.

On Monday, the World Health Organization insisted it was premature to declare the deadly outbreak of a novel coronavirus a pandemic even though it had the potential to reach that level.

The rapid spread of the virus beyond China has heightened fears over its impact on the global economy, driving some bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will be pressed to cut rates as soon as the April meeting.

However, Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said Monday that she does not see a need to cut interest rates yet.