Gold jumped above $1,800 on Friday, helped by bets that central banks could keep interest rates relatively low to avoid lingering upside risks.
But a general rise in the dollar, while investors tried to gauge the timing of the US Federal Reserve's cuts, kept gold down for the week.
Spot gold was up 0.3% to $1,800.40 an ounce by 07:32 GMT. It fell 1.4% to its first drop in five weeks. US gold futures rose 0.1 per cent to $1,802.10.
Contributing to gold's rise, the dollar was slightly weaker on the day, making bullion more attractive to holders of other currencies, but the dollar was still targeting weekly gains. [US DOLLAR/.]
Gold is still being bought on recessions because central banks are in no hurry to raise interest rates, said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management.
"Growth remains a major concern for central banks."
Gold investors are watching the Fed's signals closely as underperforming bullion tends to rise when interest rates are low, while some see bullion as a hedge against higher inflation fuelled by massive stimulus.
And the signals have been mixed, with a recent Fed report showing that the US economy "declined slightly" in August. But a number of Fed officials said this week that August's slowdown in job growth does not cancel plans to reduce asset purchases this year.
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Despite heightened macro risks, the Fed is unlikely to give up its 2021 cuts and the price of gold will fall to around $1,700 in the fourth quarter, Citi Research said.
Silver rose 0.54% to $24.20 an ounce, but fell 2% this week.
Platinum rose 0.4% to $981.19 a barrel. It was on track for its biggest weekly decline since early August, falling 4.2%.
Palladium rose 0.5% to $2189.33, but was down more than 9% for the week.
