(Reuters) - Gold steadied on Tuesday after climbing near a record high the previous day, as the market consolidated and panic over Europe's debt crisis paused, but analysts said the uptrend would resume soon.
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"The gold market seems to be capturing good investment demand because of the problems circulating in the world, equity markets, the euro are under a lot of pressure ... feels like we will be testing $1,250 sooner rather than later," said Afshin Nabavi, head of trading at MKS Finance.
"We're probably heading for $1,300 quite rapidly - a lot of people anticipated a better (payrolls) number on Friday out of
the U.S. and were a bit shocked by the outcome."
Gold's safe-haven appeal has increased as investors ditch the euro on fears the European sovereign debt crisis was spreading and also due to concerns the U.S. economic recovery may be slowing.
The euro inched up but held near four-year lows on Tuesday, with funds expected to resume selling on lingering concerns about the European financial system, even though finance ministers from the euro zone had agreed to set up a safety net arrangement.
Gold priced in euros held near Monday's record, while bullion hit an all time high in Australian dollars.
