Gold steadied on Friday after recent gains that lifted the metal to its highest since November, keeping it on track to end January with its strongest monthly climb in a year. A March rate hike is looking "extremely unlikely," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. "Now that the Fed has said that they are looking at international conditions and their impact on the US economy it's quite clear they'd be waiting...and there are not just enough macro data between now and the March meeting for them to shift from their current position," said McCarthy.
That should support gold in the near term as the dollar comes under pressure, he said. Spot gold was little changed at $1,114.62 an ounce by 0630 GMT. Profit-taking on Thursday caused bullion to retreat from a 12-week high of $1,127.80 reached the previous day. For the month, gold was up 5 percent, its biggest such gain since January last year. US gold for February delivery was flat at $1,115 an ounce.