Spot gold was flat on Friday, consolidating after a rally the previous session driven by an unexpected jump in US jobless benefits claims.
US first-time jobless benefits claims unexpectedly rose to their highest in almost six months, fueling fresh concerns of a faltering economic recovery, spurring safe-haven demand that bolstered gold and the dollar.
Spot gold rose 90 cents to $US1212.20 an ounce, just off the high of $US1215.25 hit the previous day, its strongest since July 15.
US gold futures edged down $US2.20 to $US1214.50 an ounce, after rising by 1.5 per cent on Thursday, its strongest one-day gain since June 7.
The dollar index was off 0.1 per cent on Friday at 82.557, after rising 0.4 per cent on Thursday. It remains well short of the July 21 peak of 83.451.
Japan's Nikkei was flat after the poor US data and a sobering revenue outlook from Cisco sent US stocks lower for a third straight day on Thursday.
Oil slid 3 per cent on Thursday, marking its steepest three-day decline since mid-May on fears that a hoped-for economic recovery was unravelling.
