Gold held steady above $1,380 an ounce in Europe on Thursday as trade thinned ahead of the Christmas holidays, but was set for its first weekly gain in three as worries over euro zone sovereign debt lent support.
Spot gold was bid at $1,383.65 an ounce at 12:33 SA time, against $1,384.55 late in New York on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery fell $3.10 to $1,384.30.
The precious metal is up 0.7 percent this week so far, as its appeal as a haven from risk rose after ratings agency Fitch said it could cut Greece's foreign currency rating, and Moody's threatened to downgrade debt-ridden Portugal.
“The prospect of further downgrades had an impact on the euro and (also) on gold,” said Peter Fertig, a consultant at Quantitative Commodity Research.
“This is probably calming down in the final few trading days of this year, but it will remain a topic going into next year. From that perspective, gold seems to be well supported.”
Currency traders are looking ahead to a raft of U.S. data due later, including U.S. personal income and spending numbers for November and a report on durable goods orders.
