Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Gold steadied near a one-week high on Thursday as the dollar weakened, but the metal traded in a narrow $8 range as investors held back from making large bets ahead of the European Central Bank's monetary policy decision due at 1145 GMT.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,945.17 per ounce by 0641 GMT, after hitting its highest since Sept. 3 at $1,950.51 on Wednesday. US gold futures dipped 0.1% to $1,952.40.

"The US dollar is a bit lower, stocks bounced a bit and that essentially carried over to gold as well," said DailyFx currency strategist Ilya Spivak.

Asian stock markets snapped their longest losing streak since February following a bounce on Wall Street, while the dollar index slipped from four-week highs, making gold less expensive for holders of other currencies.

Spivak said investors in gold may also be waiting for US CPI data and the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting next week, in addition to the ECB announcement which is a key risk event. 

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The ECB is all but certain to keep policy unchanged when it announces its decision, which will then be followed by a news conference by its President Christine Lagarde.

Major central banks have rolled out unprecedented stimulus measures and kept interest rates low, driving gold to new highs because of its role as a hedge against inflation and currency debasement.

"Ample money supply, lower interest rates and macro uncertainty should support gold investment," ANZ analysts said in a note. "Physical demand is recovering, so we see the gold price reaching $2,300/oz next year."

On the technical front, spot gold may rise more to $1,965 per ounce, as suggested by a projection analysis and a falling channel, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.

Elsewhere, silver fell 0.4% to $26.92 per ounce, platinum gained 0.7% at $922.33 and palladium rose 1.2% to $2,299.33.

Reuters