Gold held steady above $1,200 an ounce on Friday, but was on course for its steepest weekly decline in four weeks as the dollar regained momentum, hurting the metal's safe-haven appeal. Spot gold ticked up 0.2 percent to $1,208.19 an ounce by 0643 GMT, after dropping 0.3 percent in the previous session. The metal is down 1.4 percent for the week, its biggest fall since the week ended April 24.
"We still would like to see a bit more conviction for gold before we advocate taking a position," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir, adding that there was no clear trend on the price direction. Upside in gold is capped by strength in the dollar, boosted by weakness in the euro, which slipped this week after the European Central Bank indicated it would accelerate the pace of money printing to buy government bonds over the next two months.