Gold is likely to stay steady, with a slightly positive outlook, after a small rally this week. The precious metal inched up this week on expectation of monetary easing from the ECB and the Federal Reserve, both of which failed to act.

However, the US jobs data, late on Friday sparked a small gain of 1%. The rally may continue early next week, much depending on the dollar movement, which lost heavy ground on Friday.

Though the jobs data in the US was surprisingly positive, the unemployment rose to 8.3%, which lifted prospects of a quantitative easing or QE3 in the US in September by the Federal Reserve.

The enthusiasm over QE3 may continue to see gold remain slightly higher, but a runaway in prices next week is ruled out.

India gold is also expected to rise marginally on strong physical demand as festive season is on. However, slack buying ahead of festivals could limit the upside in prices, as per analysts.

After rallying to its highest level of $ 1,792 in January, gold has not rallied much. According to charts gold has not rallied more than 2% this year in dollar terms.

Swings in gold prices since August have tarnished its reputation as a safe haven, and bullion has moved in tandem with riskier assets in the past few months.

GoodReturns.in