Spot gold held steady on Tuesday as a violent unrest in the Middle East and a nuclear crisis in Japan supported prices, but implications of a possible end to easy monetary policy in advanced economies weighed on sentiment. Spot gold was little changed at to $1,419.80 an ounce by 0622 GMT. US gold was flat at $1,420. Spot silver edged down 0.3 percent to $37 an ounce, down 3 percent from a 31-year high of $38.13 reached last Thursday.