Gold firmed on Friday but stuck to a narrow range below the previous session's highs as the dollar steadied amid caution ahead of US jobs data later in the day.
Spot gold edged up 0.1 per cent to $1,277.04 per ounce at 0327 GMT, and was on track for its first weekly gain in three. It hit its highest in about two weeks, at $1,284.10, in the previous session.
US gold for December delivery was mostly unchanged at $1,277.70 per ounce, reports Reuters.
The dollar held steady versus a basket of currencies on Friday, as focus shifted to US jobs data, with President Donald Trump's nomination of Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell to be the next Fed chair coming as no surprise.
The greenback had slipped on Thursday after Republicans in the US House of Representatives released proposals to overhaul the tax code.
Spot gold looks neutral in a narrow range of $1,263-$1,281 per ounce, and an escape could suggest a direction, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
Meanwhile, holdings of the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.4 per cent to 846.04 tonnes on Thursday.
In other precious metals, spot silver inched 0.1 per cent higher percent to $17.10 per ounce, platinum eased 0.4 per cent, to $921.25 and palladium was up 0.3 per cent to $998.88.
