Gold prices rose on Friday, gearing up for their best quarterly performance in more than two years, as a well-received budget from Spain sharpened appetite for assets seen as higher risk, leading stock markets, the euro and commodities to rise. The precious metal is within $10 of the 6-1/2 month high it hit earlier this month after the Federal Reserve unveiled a third round of gold-friendly quantitative easing measures, a move widely tipped to spark a rally back above $1,800 an ounce. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,780.30 an ounce at 0945 GMT, while U.S. gold futures for December delivery were up $2.50 an ounce at $1,783.00. Gold is on track to climb 11.4 percent this quarter, its best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2010. "(Gold) looks good," MKS Finance's head of trading Afshin Nabavi said. "With the quarter-end and month-end, I think we could see $1,790 or even $1,800 this afternoon... buy on dips is the name of the game." Gains in the dollar on the back of the euro zone debt crisis have kept prices in check. The euro recovered from a two-week low on Friday, however, after debt-laden Spain unveiled a crisis budget that many saw as a step towards a bailout. The move boosted other nominally risky assets, with Spanish blue-chips leading European shares higher and Brent crude oil prices breaking above $112 a barrel. Safe-haven German Bunds retreated. Gold prices in euros held near the previous session's record high of 1,380 euros an ounce, hit after rising spot prices coincided with a weaker euro. Euro-priced gold was up 1.1 percent at 1,375.48 euros an ounce. "(The) gold price has just recently peaked in Indian rupee, euro and Swiss franc terms, indicating monetary stimulus particularly benefits gold and this is not just a weak dollar story," bullion broker Sharps Pixley said in a note. COIN, PHYSICAL FUND SALES PICK UP The precious metal has posted a positive quarter in terms of investment in gold exchange-traded funds, popular investment vehicles backed by physical stocks of bullion. ETFs tracked by Reuters are on track for their biggest quarterly inflows in well over a year, of 3.285 million ounces. Sales of gold American Eagle coins by the U.S. Mint also improved from the previous quarter after a late-September jump to hit 138,000 ounces in the third quarter, up from 133,000 ounces in the previous three months. However, that is still the second lowest quarterly figures in more than two years. From a technical perspective, gold's bias is generally positive but it is facing resistance at its 2012 high at $1,791 an ounce, analysts who study past price patterns to determine the future direction of trade said. "A move above $1,788 in gold would confirm a base at $1,737 and open the $1,803 range highs," Barclays Capital said in a note. "We are bullish and look for a break above there to open the $1,921 highs." Other precious metals also recorded a positive quarter, with silver the star performer, rising more than 25 percent. Spot silver was up 0.3 percent at $34.74 an ounce. Spot platinum was up 1.4 percent at $1,663.50 an ounce, on track for a 15.4 percent quarterly rise, while spot palladium was up 0.9 percent at $635.90 an ounce. It is set to climb 9.8 percent this quarter, the underperformer of the precious metals pack, but still its best quarterly performance since the second quarter of 2010.

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