Sydney - Gold steadied on Monday after starting its fifth straight week in positive territory ahead of fresh US economic data that could signal a mixed outlook.
Bullion dealers said the extent of the US economy's ability to generate jobs would be the highlight of the data, culminating in Friday's employment figures, and provide direction for gold.
But with the grab bag of forecasts, dealers said gold might have a tough time retesting the last session's high of $1 242.25 an ounce.
Spot gold was quoted slightly higher at $1 236.45 by 07:35 am versus Friday's notional close of $1 235.70. It touched a high of $1 238.20 earlier in the day.
US gold futures for December delivery rose to $1 239.20 an ounce against $1 237.90 on Friday.
Projected gains in July US personal income later on Monday could keep a lid on bullion's upside as an improving outlook typically drives more investors away from safe harbours like gold.
"Expectations are that personal income figures will be up, and that's keeping some people out of gold," a dealer in Sydney said.
Consensus figures point to a 0.3% increase in the July figure for personal income, Thomson Reuters data shows.
Barclays Capital said it was looking for the August FOMC minutes on Tuesday to show heightened concern about the recovery, and a lower growth forecast for 2010.
"We would not be surprised to see some discussion of potential policy alternatives," Barclays Capital said in a note.
Gold prices got a leg up on Friday after comments from US Federal Reserve Chairperson Ben Bernanke raised the prospect of further quantitative easing and the possibility of inflationary pressures.
US auto sales on Wednesday should show a slight gain, according to Reuters data.
Economists polled by Reuters estimated that unemployment rose to 9.6% in August from 9.5% in July and that private-sector employers added 42 000 jobs to their payrolls after adding 71 000 in July.
US non-farm payrolls as a whole are estimated to have shed 99 000 jobs in August, but this was a function of the federal government releasing temporary census workers.
Lower volume trading due to a bank holiday in the United Kingdom may also help stymie gold's upside, they said.
Further quantitative easing could potentially see gold heading back towards its record high at $1 264.90 an ounce seen on June 21, analysts said.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust said its holdings stood at 1 298.556 tonnes versus 1 297.948 tonnes on August 26.
Silver rose 10c to $19.13 an ounce, against Friday's late price, having earlier touched an intra-day high of $19.16.
Platinum was 50c lower at $1 530.00 an ounce. Palladium last fetched $503.50, up $2.50.