Gold prices eased on Friday as the dollar inched up, while investors remained cautious ahead of a G7 meeting later in the day and other key events next week such as a United States Federal Reserve policy meeting and a US-North Korea summit.
Spot gold was 0.1 percent lower at $1,294.87 per ounce by 0658 GMT. It hit a one-week high of $1,303.08 an ounce in the previous session and has risen about 0.2 percent so far this week.
US gold futures for August delivery fell 0.3 percent to $1,298.70 per ounce.
"Gold is most likely going to be range bound. The markets are looking very closely on what could actually come out from the G7 meeting," said OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan.
"The market is also looking for a potential rate hike by the FOMC ... (but) the dollar movement will dictate how gold will move into the next one week or so." Spot gold may end very soon its current sideways move in a neutral range of $1,293-$1,302 per ounce, and then either rise towards $1,326 or drop towards $1,281.76, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.