Early on Friday, gold is trading bullish as markets focus on developments around more fiscal stimulus measures in the US even as reports reveal that Pfizer has cut its target for rolling out the COVID-19 vaccine. At the time of writing, GOLD is trading at a little above $1,840.

Even though markets continue to trade with a risk-on sentiment, the safe haven appeal of gold received support over progress in negotiations between Democrats and Republicans towards finalizing the coronavirus relief package. Expectations for more fiscal stimulus measures needed to prop up the economy are driving weakness in the US dollar and sending the yellow metal prices higher.

Gold prices also climbed higher after one of the pharmaceutical companies that has developed the COVID-19 vaccine, reportedly cut its target for the vaccine’s rollout in half due to supply chain related challenges. The company had initially announced that it would ship 50 million doses of the vaccine in 2020, which could go up to 1.3 billion through 2021.

However, a report on the Wall Street Journal stated that some of the raw materials used to create the vaccine failed to meet Pfizer’s standards, driving a reduction in the number of doses being produced this year. An official statement from the company also alluded to challenges in scaling up the supply of raw materials and the delay in producing vaccines for clinical trials.