Spot gold was steady at $473.50/474.25 an ounce in late afternoon trade, almost unchanged from late trade in New York, where it rose more than $3 after a weaker dollar sparked fund buying.
Gold touched a high of $475.60 on Thursday but faced stiff resistance at that level. The currency market was likely to dictate movements of gold, which was supported at around $470.
Dealers await quarterly growth data for the US economy later on Friday, which could provide new direction for bullion. The euro was flat at $1.2139.
US third-quarter GDP, due, likely rose 3.6 percent, speeding up from 3.3 percent in the previous quarter, according to a Reuters poll. "The physical market is a little bit quiet.
But it seems there's some demand outside Hong Kong," said Ronald Lunge, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "There may be steep demand in Korea and Thailand.
It looks like there's a little bit of uncertainty. Maybe the bird flu has a bit of impact on the market too," he said. Investors tend to chase gold in times of uncertainty, but dealers in Thailand said they had not seen a rush in buying on fears the bird flu virus will mutate to allow human-to-human transmission.
"I don't think bird flu is an issue. People are buying gold because people think the price will go up and also because the Thai stock market doesn't look good," said one Bangkok dealer.
H5N1 avian flu has forced the destruction of more than 140 million birds in Asia and Eastern Europe and officials say it is on a steady march across the world.
Thailand is Southeast Asia's second-largest jewellery maker after Indonesia, producing around 47 tonnes of gold jewellery a year. In other precious metals, palladium was steady at $224/228 an ounce, having risen to a 1-year peak of $227 on Thursday, when sister metal platinum hit a new 25-1/2-year high of $947.
At $939/943 an ounce, spot platinum was higher than New York's $936/939. The two metals, used in jewellery and automotive catalytic converters to clean toxic emissions, draw renewed interest from investors as gold struggled to sustain gains since rising to its highest level in nearly 18 years at $480.25 on October 12.
"Both of them are pretty good. I think the market is still looking at $1,000 for platinum," said Lunge, referring to a level last seen in 1980.
Palladium joined the boom in precious metals this week as jewellers in Asia switched to producing jewellery made of the metal and abandoned costly platinum, said dealers.
Silver edged up to $7.81/7.83 an ounce from $7.79/7.82 an ounce late in New York. On Hong Kong's Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange, gold was at HK$4,368 per teal (37.5 gram ingot) unchanged.