Gold prices slipped on Friday as the dollar rose against the yen after Japan offered to buy government bonds and attention shifted to key US jobs data later in the day. Spot gold edged down 0.3 percent to $1,212.91 an ounce by 0557 GMT. US gold futures fell 0.4 percent to $1,214.90.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major rivals, rose 0.1 percent.
"Gold traded in a fairly tight range today, taking its cues largely from swings in the volatile dollar against yen," MKS PAMP Group trader Alex Thorndike said.
The rally in Japanese government bonds suppressed gold, Thorndike said, although "support for gold remained in place."
Spot gold marked an 11-week high of $1,225.30 an ounce on Thursday. It has risen 1.8 percent so far this week.
"Although we've had short term bids on gold due to uncertainty ... there is some very serious (technical) resistance around the $1,219-$1,221 area," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA in Singapore.