• Gold was mostly steady on Friday amid weaker Asian stocks, with some investors gravitating towards safe-haven assets on political uncertainty in the United States and after a van mowed through crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people.
Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $1,287.34 per ounce by 0408 GMT, after climbing for two straight days.
• Asian stock investors joined a global retreat from riskier assets on Friday and the dollar wavered on growing doubts about U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to fulfil his economic agenda.
• Markets were further shaken as Spain mounted a sweeping anti-terror operation on Friday after a suspected Islamist militant drove a van into crowds in Barcelona, killing 13 people before fleeing.
• "Risk aversion is back on the table again ... Market-watchers basically ignored the better-than-expected U.S. initial jobless claims, and digested the unexpected terror attack in Barcelona amid the growing controversy in the U.S.-centric political space," OCBC analyst Barnabas Gan wrote in a note.
• There are increasing concerns around the Trump administration's ability to push ahead with its policies following the disbandment of two high-profile business advisory councils over the president's remarks on violence in Virginia.
• "The ongoing discord coming out of Washington could prove supportive for gold as well, as this could pressure the dollar further just as the Fed is casting fresh doubts about its rate timetable," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said.
• The dollar on Friday edged lower against the yen, while the euro was steady after dropping to a three-week low on Thursday after minutes of the European Central Bank's July 20 policy meeting showed policymakers were worried about a possible overshoot in the euro.
• Spot gold faces resistance at $1,291 per ounce and it may hover below this level or retrace towards support at $1,271 again, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.
• Among other precious metals, silver was down 0.4 percent at $16.92 per ounce, while platinum was up 0.7 percent at $978.80 an ounce.
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