Gold eased on Tuesday, extending the previous day's fall of almost 2%, while holdings held by SPDR Gold Trust hit a record as recent price falls lured investors.
Gold was trading at $US894.40 an ounce, down $0.60 from New York's notional close on Monday.
Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, which issues securities backed by physical stocks of gold, hit a record 881.87 tonnes on Feb. 9, up 1.7% from the previous day. SPDR is the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund.
A rise in the holdings suggests investors maintained their appetite for gold as an alternative investment, though disappointment that gold failed to surpass $US930 an ounce last week had led to profit-taking.
Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.2% on Tuesday, with investors picking up recent decliners such as Kyocera Corp, but trade was set to be cautious ahead of the announcement of a US bank rescue plan
The dollar was steady versus the yen and the euro as investors waited for details of US bank bailout packages to be announced later Tuesday.
Oil prices firmed in a minor rebound after falling on Monday, when a gloomy US demand outlook outweighed talk of OPEC production cuts and hopes that a US economic stimulus package would be passed by Congress this week.
