Gold steadied on Thursday after a round of light profit taking by regional traders, a day after a rally in New York briefly sent the metal above $980 an ounce, up over $20 from late Asian trade the previous day. But activity was slow as investors kept their eyes on equity and other financial markets ahead of the G20 meeting of finance ministers in London later this week, in which the agenda includes ways to make the global financial system more stable.
Spot gold was at $976.75 an ounce at 0603 GMT, up 0.02 percent from New York's notional close of $976.60 on Wednesday, when it hit a three-month high of $980.10. The main driver for gold's overnight gains was safe-haven demand as investors sought refuge from global equities losses and financial market uncertainty.