Gold prices surged over 2% to a more than three-week high on Monday on expectations of global stimulus measures to counter the economic damage caused by the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Spot gold was up 2.3% at $1,653.35 per ounce by 17:49 GMT, having hit its highest level since March 11 at $1,655.69 earlier in the session.

Among other precious metals, autocatalyst palladium was down 1.7% at $2,151.01 per ounce.

Platinum gained 1.9% to $734.02 per ounce, while silver climbed 3.3% to $14.86 per ounce, having earlier hit its highest since March 16 at $14.91.

The U.S. dollar stalled against most currencies but continued its rise versus the Japanese yen as the rate of deaths from coronavirus in Europe slowed while deaths in Japan and elsewhere in Asia accelerated.