Gold has moved in the range between $1,700 and $1,760 since the beginning of the month, closely tracking the progress and setbacks in Greece's struggle to obtain a 130-billion euro bailout from its international lenders.
Hopes that Greece has finally done enough to secure a second bailout after Athens set out extra budget savings demanded by its international lenders helped riskier assets rally in the last trading day of the week.
Technical signals may have turned upbeat for gold, said Nick Trevethan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Singapore.
"We're at the point where we have tried the downside three or four times in the past two weeks and failed. The frustration with failure to breach the $1,700-$1,710 level might put the focus back on resistance," he said.
Lofty oil prices on concerns about supply disruption from Iran are also expected to underpin sentiment in gold, he added.
Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,731.90 an ounce by 0250 GMT, on course for a 0.7-percent weekly rise after two consecutive weeks of losses. Gold touched a low of $1,705.09 in the previous session, lowest since Feb. 10.
U.S. gold gained 0.3 percent to $1,733.60. The data from the World Gold Council, showing that global gold demand in 2011 hit a 14-year high on investment, China buying and central bank purchases, also supported gold.
Encouraging U.S. labour, manufacturing and housing data also helped boost sentiment in the financial markets.
Gold, traditionally a safe-haven asset, has been tracking riskier assets in the past few months as the turmoil caused by the euro zone debt crisis forces investors to sell off their gold positions to cover losses elsewhere.
Though hopes were raised on Greece's bailout deal, the euro zone is hardly out of the woods and its debt crisis can continue to disrupt the global financial markets.
"The recent sideway pattern makes it difficult to attract buyers," said a Shanghai-based trader, "I still don't see any direction while $1,750 may remain a key resistance level."
Spot silver edged up 0.2 percent to $33.52, off a three-week low of $32.64 hit in the previous session. The metal remained the top performer of the complex with a 21 percent year-to-day climb.
Spot platinum gained 0.6 percent to $1,628.99, headed for a weekly decline of 1.5 percent, after six straight weeks of gains.
Spot palladium rose 0.3 percent to $693.72, but on course for its biggest one-week drop in six weeks.
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