Gold recovered in Europe on Tuesday after falling in the earlier trading session, with consumer and investor demand supporting the metal, dealers said.
Spot gold was quoted at $461.10/461.90 a troy ounce by 1606 GMT, up from $459.10/459.90 last quoted in New York late on Monday. It had declined up to $456.25 on Tuesday, about 5 percent down from its mid-October high of $480.25.
"People are just waiting for some direction," said a precious metals analyst in London.
"It can come from the dollar as that's the most obvious day-to-day change in the market. I can't see any gold market specific news coming out soon."
The dollar hit a two-year high against the euro on Tuesday and held near a 26-month peak versus the yen as investors bet that higher US interest rates meant yield differentials would widen in favour of the greenback.
The spread of social unrest in France and pressure from European politicians on the European Central Bank not to raise interest rates in a hurry also undermined sentiment in the single currency.
A stronger dollar tends to weigh on commodities like gold because the dollar-denominated goods get costlier for market participants holding foreign currencies.
Dealers said consumer demand and increased buying by investors were expected to limit any drop in gold prices.
"I am still optimistic for it. I think in the longer term, we are moving higher. (Though) we may see some blips," said a European precious metals dealer.
Some dealers said the market was under some pressure because of a drop in crude oil prices.
Oil prices stayed below $60 on Tuesday after two sessions of deep losses as mild weather dampened demand across the northern hemisphere.
"The market is fairly quiet at the moment. I think in the absence of anything else significantly in the market, the dollar is the principal influence," said Peter Hillyard, head of metals sales, Europe, at ANZ Investment Bank.
In other precious metals, spot silver was quoted at $7.62/7.65 a troy ounce, compared with $7.56/7.59 in the US market.
Platinum prices rose to $937/942 an ounce from $928/932, while sister metal palladium was at $226/228 versus $224/228 in New York.