Gold held steady above the key $1,800/oz level on Thursday, as worries over mounting Covid-19 cases offset hopes of a swift global economic recovery.
Spot gold was little changed at $1,808.44 per ounce by 02.43 GMT, after rising to its highest level since September 2011 at $1,817.71 on Wednesday. US gold futures were flat at $1,819.80.
Traders are seen a little exhausted after the metal cleared the $1,800 level, "but no one seems eager to abandon this trade yet", said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at broker OANDA.
"Gold is looking very bullish both in the short- and long-term... It has enough catalysts to take it to record territory before the end of the year," said Moya.
Global coronavirus cases reached more than 12 million on Wednesday, with more than half a million dead.
Keeping alive worries over the economic fallout from the pandemic, US Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday suggested the recovery in the world's largest economy may be stalling.
Meanwhile, Britain's finance minister promised an additional $38 billion to head off an unemployment crisis.
Stimulus tends to boost gold, which is viewed as a hedge against inflation and currency debasement.
Providing further support to gold, the dollar traded near multi-week lows.
Reflecting strong investor demand for the metal, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.3 per cent to 1,182.11 tonnes on Wednesday.
Asian equities ground higher as investors tried to look past gathering Sino-US tension and renewed lockdowns to upcoming company earnings, hoping that global stimulus efforts will yield upbeat outlooks.
Boosting recovery bets, Japan's core machinery orders rose 1.7 per cent in May from the previous month, versus a 5.4 per cent drop forecast.
Among other metals, palladium rose 0.5 per cent to $1,926.33 per ounce, while platinum declined 0.3 per cent to $840.95 and silver fell 0.6 per cent to $18.66.
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