The session high fell short of Thursday's peak at $429.80, which was gold's loftiest level since January 27.
Precious metals were underpinned by a steady euro against the dollar after a lower US consumer sentiment number for February. Earlier, a report showed US core producer prices rose at their fastest rate in six years in January.
Taken together, the data prompted dealers to take a more neutral stance on the dollar.
Weakness in the US currency makes dollar-denominated metals cheaper for non-US buyers. Scott Meyers, analyst at Pioneer Futures, said gold faced "major" resistance at $430, and with a half-day today, the market lacked sufficient momentum to mount a real challenge.
However, he was friendly to the entire metals complex, mostly due to the euro's continued strength.
"My feeling is that the euro is still strong and we now are at a crucial juncture. A (euro) settlement of $1.31 or higher will put this toward the $1.33 target, which I think could take gold back toward the $440 level," Meyers said.
The dollar was below its morning highs by midafternoon. The euro was last at $1.3061, compared with a low at $1.3015 after the PPI data and versus $1.3084 late on Thursday.
The producer price index, which measures prices received by farms, factories and refineries, rose just 0.3 percent, but the core index, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, shot up 0.8 percent, the biggest gain since 1998.
The University of Michigan's preliminary reading of its consumer confidence index for February was 94.2, off from January's final reading of 95.5,
Spot gold fetched $427.05/427.80 an ounce, barely changed from Thursday's New York close at $427.10/7.80. Friday's afternoon fix in London was at $427.10.
Silver rallied on broker short covering after fund buying earlier in the week, dealers said. Silver, which has the merits of both precious and industrial metals, also was supported by copper's jump to a 16-year high in the last day.
March silver rose 4.7 cents to $7.417 an ounce, trading from $7.32 and $7.455 - its priciest since December 8. Spot was at $7.37/40, up from the prior close at $7.32/35. The fix was at $7.32.
"With copper and the other base metals looking strong, silver seems the keenest of the precious metals to push higher," said TheBulliondesk.com in a report.
"Substantial resistance should be found around $7.40 (basis spot silver), however a break higher could find lurking stops with resistance above pegged at $7.45/55/65," it added.
April platinum rose $2.30 to end at $865.50 an ounce. Spot held at $863/868.
March palladium was flat at $183 an ounce. Spot was stable at $179/184.