Gold held steady on Friday near a three-week high and was on track for a second consecutive weekly gain, underpinned by a weaker dollar and US political uncertainty.
Heightened political concerns surrounding investigations into President Donald Trump's campaign ties with Russia are currently the key driver supporting gold prices, said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia Pacific at OANDA in Singapore.
A weaker dollar makes US dollar denominated gold more attractive for buyers using other currencies.
Spot gold rose 0.1 per cent to $1,245.01 per ounce at 0401 GMT after touching a three-week high of $1,247.48 an ounce in the previous session. It is up about 1.4 per cent for the week so far. US gold futures for August delivery fell 0.1 per cent to $1,244.70 per ounce.
US political crisis
“What we're seeing right now is the overhang from political risks in the United States,” Innes said.
The Republican Party's repeated failures to overhaul the healthcare system and multiple congressional and federal investigations into President Donald Trump's campaign's ties to Russia have cast a shadow over his first six months in office.
ECB policy stance
The ECB left its ultra easy monetary policy unchanged on Thursday and did not even discuss clawing back stimulus, suggesting it may delay an inevitable decision on tapering bond buys until the latest possible moment.
Spot gold may test a resistance at $1,250 per ounce, a break above which could lead to a further gain to $1,261, according to Reuters technical analyst, Wang Tao.
“The gold-silver ratio closed slightly lower today, at 76.05,” said analysts at ScotiaMocatta, adding that “resistance is at 77.92, the recent high and support is at 74.82.”
Among other precious metals, silver fell 0.1 percent to $16.28 per ounce after touching $16.42 in the previous session, the highest since July 3.
Platinum fell 0.4 per cent to $922.49 per ounce but was up about 1 per cent for the week. Palladium rose 0.4 per cent to $845.65 an ounce but was down around 1.4 percent for the week.