TOKYO (Reuters) - Gold steadied above $1,100 an ounce on Friday after retreating from a record high the previous day, hit by a recovery in the dollar.
Bullion has gained more than 5 percent as it marked a new record high for six out of the eight sessions through Thursday, touching an all-time peak of $1,122.85 on the view the dollar would remain weak.
"Gold retreated from the record high of $1,122.85 hit early yesterday as the dollar recovered after lower-than-expected U.S. weekly jobless claims enhanced hopes for the recovery of the world's largest economy," Investec Bank (Australia) Ltd said in a report on Friday.
Spot gold was at $1,106.60 per ounce at 1:28 a.m. EST, up 0.3 percent from New York's notional close of $1,103.60.
It was poised to rise 1 percent this week after rising 4.9 percent last week, the biggest weekly gain since late April, amid hopes for more central bank buying after news that the International Monetary Fund had sold 200 metric tons of bullion to India's central bank.
Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Fujitomi Co Ltd, said a decline in oil prices also encouraged profit-taking.
Gold often moves in line with crude, both because it can be used as a hedge against oil-led inflation and as rising crude prices often increase interest in commodities as an asset class.
Any decline was likely to be short-lived, however.
"I think we'll see bargain hunting once gold prices fall below $1,100," said Saito. He said there was still a lot of excess money trying to find a home that was flowing into commodities markets rather than into investments.
U.S. crude futures remained below $77 per barrel on Friday, after tumbling nearly 3 percent the previous day as growing U.S. crude inventories stirred demand concerns.
Many analysts believe gold's strength is intact as the dollar is widely expected to remain under pressure.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery were mostly unchanged at $1,107.30 per ounce. They rose to a record high of $1,123.40 on Thursday.
There was a revival in interest in silver with holdings in the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund hitting a record high.
The holdings in the iShares Silver Trust rose 183.37 metric tons, or 2.1 percent, from the previous day to an all-time high of 8,923.52 metric tons as of November 12.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, on the other hand, said its holdings stood at 1,114.443 metric tons as of November 12, unchanged from the previous day.
