Gold hit an 11-month high on Friday in its fifth day of gains as stimulus measures from major central banks continued to increase its appeal as an inflation hedge, while investors awaited more trading direction from key US jobs data due later in the day.
The European Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday and said it was ready to buy government bonds of debt-laden nations, triggering a rally in the euro and pushing gold closer to $1,800 - a level that has not been breached since November last year.
And gold is likely to gain further as other central banks, including that of China, are expected to ease policy following similar moves by the ECB, Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan to help stalled growth, analysts and traders said.
Monetary easing drives investors who fear depreciation of their currencies and future inflation to gold.
"There doesn't seem to be anything else they can do besides pumping more money into the economy," said Ronald Leung, a dealer at Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong.
"Dollar weakness, more easing, as well as the tension in West Asia, will all benefit gold."
The dollar index wallowed near a two-week low, making commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for holders of other currencies.
Rising tensions in West Asia as Turkey stepped up retaliatory artillery strikes on a Syrian border town on Thursday also supported gold's safe-haven appeal.
But Leung noted that much of the buying has come from speculators, while physical demand remained subdued.
Spot gold hit an 11-month high of $1,795.69 an ounce, and pared some gains to $1,794.59 by 0254 GMT, on course for a fifth day of gains and a weekly climb of 1.4%.
US gold rose to high of $1,798.1, its loftiest since February 29.
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings hit a record high of 1,333.44 tonne by October 4.
