Gold held steady on Friday as the dollar hovered near one-week lows, keeping the metal on track for a third week of gains amid political uncertainties in the United States and Europe. Spot gold was flat at $1,238.29 per ounce at 0710 GMT, while US gold futures were down 0.2 percent at $1,238.50. Gold is up 0.3 percent so far this week and has risen about 7.5 percent in 2017.
"Looks like people are waiting for the (next Federal Reserve) meeting and don't want to take any chances as the US CPI numbers were really good and we see good chances for a rate hike," said Ronald Leung, chief dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
"We can see that people are opting for stocks rather than buying gold." Spot gold may drop to $1,230 per ounce as its correction from the February 8 high of $1,244.67 may extend, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Holdings of SPDR Gold, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, have risen 5.6 percent so far this month, the most since June 2016.