Gold stable

Bengaluru

Gold steadied on Friday after retreating from a more than six-week high hit in the previous session, with investors looking for cues on the health of the U.S. economy from second-quarter gross domestic product data due later in the session.

A recovery in the world´s biggest economy would give the beleaguered dollar some respite from the recent sell-off, and also dent the likelihood for higher interest rates which benefits non-interest yielding and safe-haven gold.

"Our feeling is that the (GDP) number will be in line to somewhat below the 2.8 figure forecast, in which case we could see another modest advance in gold," said INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir.

"We expect to see a lot of action around the second-quarter GDP number." Spot gold were mostly unchanged at $1,259.10 per ounce at 0656 GMT, and was up slightly this week in what could be the precious metal´s longest spell of weekly gains since May.