Gold steadied on Friday, helped by a weaker dollar, with the possibility of a no-deal Brexit, uncertainties over U.S-China trade and fears of a global slowdown keeping bullion on track for a small weekly gain. Spot gold was little changed at $1,490.70 an ounce as of 01:32 p.m. EDT (1732 GMT), holding in a relatively tight range for most of the session. US gold futures settled 0.3% lower at $1,494.10 an ounce.

"The dollar is a bit soft so (that) could help a little, but overall gold is meandering in no-man's land. Perhaps we've found a restive equilibrium until we get a fresh macro driver," said Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO. Britain and the European Union sealed a new Brexit deal on Thursday, but whether that deal will be approved by the British parliament on Saturday is keeping markets on edge.

"Brexit is a coin flip at this point of time going into the weekend, we're still waiting on the trade situation to see if they're going to ink an actual partial deal," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures. The US Federal Reserve is watching for signs that a global trade slowdown is having an impact in the United States beyond manufacturing and investment, but is not yet heading into a "full-fledged rate cutting cycle," Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said.

The auto catalyst palladium fell 0.6% to $1,747.70 an ounce, a day after hitting a record high of $1,783.21. The metal was still up 3% so far this week. Platinum gained 0.3% to $890.14 while silver edged 0.2% higher to $17.55.