Gold was little changed around $890 per ounce on Thursday, torn between weakening stock markets and a lack of strong physical buying.
Bullion earlier got a boost when Asian stocks pared gains as investors cash in profits after China posted its slowest quarterly growth ever.
But European stocks futures indicate a higher opening later in the day, which may keep gold traders from making bullish bets.
“Investors seem to be closely watching developments in stock markets for any further clues. It isn’t clear whether it’s a bear market rally or a fresh rally in the beginning,” said Pradeep Unni, trader at Richcomm Global Services.
Gold is still stuck in a range, with $885 on the downside and $900 on the higher side, he added.
Spot gold stood at $891.20 per ounce at 0625 GMT, up 0.1 percent from New York’s notional close of $890.60.
It last closed above $900 on April 2 before hitting a 10-week low of $864.30 last week.
Gold rose a touch on Wednesday on a recovery in demand from India, the world’s top gold consumer, ahead of a key gold-buying festival at end-April, but this did not exert a strong influence on the market on Thursday.
“There is a little bit of a recovery in physical demand in India, which is related to the season. But it is not strong,” said Dick Poon, a division manager at Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong.
“I think money is still being put back into the equity markets ... We may test the level below $880 again because there is no strong buying, and the holdings at ETFs aren’t rising for the time being,” he said.
Stocks trimmed gains after data showing China’s economy grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the weakest growth on record but posted other data, such as industrial output, that signalled some optimism.
Japan’s Nikkei stock average ended up 0.14 percent after earlier climbing more than 3 percent, while MSCI’s measure of stocks elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region rose 0.53 percent.
Technical charts suggest gold has maintained its momentum, staying above its 100-day moving average of $886.
But investors mostly stayed on the sidelines, waiting for clearer signals on the outlook for the financial sector and equity markets, with a slew of corporate earnings due in the coming weeks.
The world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings as of April 15 remained unchanged at a record 1,127.68 tonnes, a level first reached on April 9.
