Gold steadied below a seven-week high on Tuesday as the dollar regained momentum, although uncertainty about the timing of a US interest rate hike kept bullion above $1,200 an ounce. Friday's bleak US non-farm payrolls data fuelled expectations that the Federal Reserve could delay an anticipated rate increase this year, boosting gold's safe-haven appeal. US jobs posted the slowest growth in more than a year in March.
New York Fed President William Dudley said the timing of the US rate hike, which would be the first in nearly a decade, is unclear and policymakers must watch that the US economy's surprising recent weakness does not signal a more substantial slowdown.
"We haven't changed our expectation of a mid-year rate hike but the weak number we had on Friday certainly eschews the risk towards more of a later rather than an earlier hike," said Victor Thianpiriya, analyst at Australia and New Zealand Bank.
Spot gold was nearly flat at $1,213.11 an ounce at 0631 GMT. It hit a high of $1,224.10 on Monday, its loftiest since February 17. US gold for June delivery slipped 0.4 percent to $1,213.50 an ounce.
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