"Gold and silver are facing some pressure as the dollar is firm this morning, but they are generally range-bound," said Koji Suzuki, manager at Star Futures Securities.
"Based on charts, the market is more likely to test gold upwards, but we need fresh incentives before doing that."
At 0319 GMT, spot gold was quoted at $426.00/6.75 per ounce, compared with $427.05/7.80 in New York on Friday.
Traders said active stop-loss buying could emerge should it decisively break through $428.
That level is seen as a 38.2 percent retracement level between a low of around $410 set in early February and a 16-year high of $456.75 set on December 2.
The market is keen to test gold beyond $430, which is its 100-day moving average.
Technically, the current bullishness is expected to continue unless the price drops below its 14-day moving average of about $420.
"A break beyond $430 could trigger active short-covering to lift spot gold to higher levels at a fast speed," Suzuki said. Traders expect gold and other precious metals to be range-bound for the rest of the day, but prices could be exaggerated by market thinness amid an absence of US players as markets will be closed on Monday for the President's Day holiday.
The dollar was firmer against key currencies, which weighed on precious metals. The US currency was quoted at $1.3049/53 against the euro compared with $1.3073 in New York on Friday.
But the dollar was still hovering near a three-week low versus the euro after testimony from US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan last week failed to boost the currency.
The dollar was at 105.71/74 yen against 105.65 yen in New York.
Underlying bullishness in spot gold pushed up yen-based gold futures to an eight-week high, traders said.
December Tokyo Commodity Exchange gold futures ended the morning session up three yen per gram at 1,453 yen. It had moved in a range of 1,451-1,454 yen.
Silver eased after hitting a two-month peak on Friday, supported by strong base metals.
The spot silver price stood at $7.34/$7.36 an ounce from $7.37/40 in New York.
Platinum was quoted at $860/$865 an ounce, compared with $863/$868 in New York.
Sister metal palladium was at $180/$185 an ounce, little changed from $179/$184.