China's central bank was set to inject 1.2 trillion yuan (US$174 billion) worth of liquidity into the markets via reverse repo operations today, Reuters reported. Market futures were mainly pointing lower and Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 fell in morning trade. North American and European markets had closed lower on Friday and Australasian markets were mixed. The gold price is on the rise and was nearing US$1,589 an ounce on the spot market earlier. Iron ore and copper prices have fallen over the past week amid the uncertainty of the virus' impact on China's economic activity. Among the majors, BHP (ASX: BHP) was down nearly 2.8% in morning trade. Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) had closed 1.98% lower while in the US, gold major Newmont (NYSE: NEM) managed a 0.2% gain on Friday.