Gold prices steadied on Thursday off the previous day's four-month high, under pressure from a firmer dollar, while buyers of coins, bars and jewelry in Asian markets held off in anticipation of a further price drop. The dollar held near a two-week high against a basket of major currencies, as heightening tensions in Ukraine helped support safe-haven demand for the U.S. unit. Gold rose marginally to $1,330 an ounce. On Wednesday, it hit a four-month high at $1,345.35 before falling almost 1 percent on a dollar rally and surging U.S. home sales. U.S. gold moved modestly higher to $1,331 an ounce. Geopolitical concerns and an unexpectedly upbeat report on U.S. new home sales on Thursday helped the dollar to its biggest one-day rise in about a month, prompting selling of gold after the metal hit its highest since Oct. 30 in Asian trading hours. A spate of below-consensus U.S. data has curbed expectations that the Federal Reserve would step up tapering of its bullion-friendly monthly bond-buying program, which prompted much of last year's fall in gold prices. Gold has risen more than 10 percent so far this year on uncertainty over the pace of the U.S. economic recovery, worries about growth in China and renewed interest in bullion-backed exchange traded funds.

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