Gold was up in Asia, while the dollar fell as Santa brought a risk-on rally ahead of the holidays.

Gold futures rose 0.01 percent to $1,810.10, staying above the $1,800 level. The dollar, which usually moves in the opposite direction of gold, fell slightly on Friday.

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A study in the United Kingdom found that Omicron infections are less likely to result in hospitalization, but the variant may still cause many severe cases due to its infectiousness. However, a laboratory study in the Asia Pacific found that two doses and a booster of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s vaccine did not produce enough neutralizing antibodies to protect against omicron.

China also closed down Xi’an to combat the latest COVID-19 outbreak in the western city.

In other news, Japan’s national core consumer price index increased 0.5 percent year on year in November, according to data released earlier in the day. In addition, the country’s cabinet approved an initial record budget for the fiscal year beginning in April 2022. Japan intends to spend JPY107.6 trillion yen in total for the fiscal year ending March 2023, a 0.9 percent increase over the initial budget for the current fiscal year.

Silver Mines

BMO Markets upgraded Fortuna Silver Mines’ stock from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a recent report. The brokerage now has a target price of C$7.25 on the stock, up from their previous target price of C$5.75.

Several other equity research analysts have recently commented on the company. In a report issued on Friday, November 12th, Pi Financial downgraded Fortuna Silver Mines from a buy rating to a neutral rating. In a research note issued on Friday, November 19th, Canaccord Genuity upgraded shares of Fortuna Silver Mines from a sell rating to a hold rating. Fortuna Silver Mines last reported quarterly earnings on November 11th. The company reported C0.10 EPS for the quarter, C lower than the Zacks’ consensus estimate of C$0.13. During the quarter, the company earned C$204.70 million in revenue. Sell-side analysts predict that Fortuna Silver Mines will reach 0.55 per share this year.

In other Fortuna Silver Mines news, Senior Officer Juan Manuel Ruiz-Conejo purchased 8,500 shares of the company’s stock. The insider now directly owns 215,795 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$891,233.