Gold rose on Thursday as global markets took respite from a massive sell-off in risky assets and absorbed Republican Donald Trump's shocking US presidential win, but gains were capped by firmer Asian stocks.
Spot gold was up 0.75 per cent at $1,287.15 an ounce at 0712 GMT, while US gold futures climbed 1.1 per cent to $1,287.50 per ounce.
Asian shares rallied on Thursday and the dollar firmed in a remarkable snapback from the shock of Trump's presidential victory, though market participants were still concerned about the lack of details on the president-elect's policy path.
"Given that Donald Trump hardly has any policy details to back up his general proposals, it is not clear yet what effects his presidency will have on the various markets,” INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note.
"We have been testing upside and we certainly going to be much more comfortable if we touch back above $1,300... We see a lot of buying activity from China,” said Spencer Campbell, general manager with Kaloti Precious Metals in Singapore.
Gold rose nearly 5 per cent to touch $1,337.40 on Wednesday, its highest in six weeks.
But prices have since retreated as US markets reacted positively to the Trump win.
"Despite the pullback there are long-term uncertainties associated with the stated policy objectives of a Trump presidency that are likely to engineer a gold rally,” HSBC analyst James Steel said in a note.
"Also one factor that may still propel gold may be a shift in expectations concerning a potential December rate hike," Steel said.
Trump's victory throws into question the core assumption in global financial markets that the Fed will raise interest rates soon. Gold is highly sensitive to rising rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar, in which it is priced.
"While higher uncertainty warrants an allocation to gold from a portfolio construction perspective, the tactical outlook remains mixed,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note on Wednesday.
Spot gold is expected to fall to $1,249 per ounce, as suggested by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci retracement analysis, according to Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao. Silver was up 1.7 per cent at $18.79 an ounce. Platinum dropped 0.4 per cent to $994.50, and palladium rose 0.6 per cent to $681.50.