Spot gold held steady in Asia on Tuesday as the market digested gains in New York before making fresh attempts to breach the key $420 an ounce resistance amid rising global tension, dealers said.
Gold was quoted at $417.50/418.25 an ounce by 0457 GMT versus $417.00/417.50 last quoted in New York's COMEX market on Monday, when the metal touched a two-month high of $418.20 after Israel assassinated the leader of the militant group Hamas.
"There was some profit-taking in the market," said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers Ltd in Hong Kong.
Tokyo gold futures tracked gains in New York. The benchmark February 2005 gold contract on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM) rose 11 yen per gram to 1,436 yen.
Dealers said violence in the Middle East had elevated gold's safe-haven status but many investors preferred to stay on the sidelines, waiting for fresh leads from the currency market.
The killing of Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin triggered fears of growing violence and instability around the world and put pressure on the dollar.
"The market will initially test $420," said one analyst in Sydney, referring to a level last seen in mid-January.
"Then, we will see a pullback to $412 and $410 before it starts rallying again. We see support levels at $414.20 and $408.75. The market may touch $420 today, and then it will start the retracement," he said.
Dealers pegged the next upside target at $430.50, a peak last seen in early January.
"Concern about the Middle East situation is rising," said Koji Fukaya, chief forex analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
"Any terrorist attacks in the US would obviously hurt the dollar, but as long as this instability is restricted to the Middle East the impact should be limited."
Regardless of the security outlook, analysts said fundamentals continued to point to a weaker dollar.
The dollar was trading at 106.73 yen, not far from 106.83 in late New York trade on Monday, and holding above Monday's low of 106.40 yen.
The euro was at $1.2349, little changed from late New York, having risen as high as $1.2402 on Monday.
Silver paused for breath after touching a fresh six-year high of $7.72 on Monday. It was quoted at $7.62/7.64 an ounce, up from $7.60/7.62 last quoted in the US market.
Platinum was quoted at $905/910 an ounce versus $893/898 in New York and sister metal palladium stood at $286/291 an ounce against $283/288.