** Gold stocks rise premarket, tracking a rise in bullion, as investors look for a safe haven metal following growing concerns around the Omicron COVID-19 variant
** Moderna's chief executive cautioned that COVID-19 shots were unlikely to be as effective against the Omicron variant, triggering a global selloff
** Spot gold rose ~0.5% to $1,793.35/ounce by 1326 GMT, while U.S. gold futures advanced 0.5% to $1,794.6
** U.S.-listed shares of South African miners Anglogold Ashanti, Gold Fields, Harmony Gold, rose between 2% and 4.9%
** Miner Newmont Corp up 0.3%, while U.S.-listed shares of Barrick Gold Corp gains 0.5%
** U.S. shares of Canadian miners Yamana Gold Inc , Kinross Gold Corp and Alamos Gold Inc add 0.3% to 1.2%
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar) ((BansariMayur.Kamdar@thomsonreuters.com;))