Gold steady above $400 in Europe, eyes dollar

Gold was stable above $400 an ounce on Wednesday, with the market poised to gain further despite a weakening euro against the dollar that would normally dull the metal's allure to European investors.
The euro fell against the dollar, hurt by the single European currency's losses against the yen amid talk of an end to aggressive yen sales by Japan.
But dollar bulls were knocked after a US Federal Reserve statement late on Tuesday left US interest rates unchanged as expected, with fading prospects for any dollar-boosting rises in months to come.
Dealers said bullion was looking far more positive, with physical demand emerging to bolster the market.
"Liquidity is rather thin this afternoon but gold is looking well supported despite the euro weakening - in euro terms gold is at its highest levels since late January," a European trader said.
Spot gold was at $402.10/402.90 an ounce by 1540 GMT, compared with $402.00/402.80 last quoted in New York on Tuesday.
Dealers said the market needed further currency impetus to break out of its $395-405 range.
"Despite yesterday's move, which strengthened the precious metal's recent light positive bias, a more significant change in the dollar is necessary for gold to find a new more major direction," Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein's Alexander Zumpfe said in a daily report.
Currency was the major driver for bullion in early January, when the metal struck a 15-year peak of $430.50 as the euro surged.
A recovering dollar pushed gold down to a 15-week low of $387.60 earlier this month.
Silver was steady at $7.15/7.17 from $7.13/7.15 in New York on Tuesday. Dealers said the market was still consolidating last week's run to six-year peaks around $7.25, with further rises on the cards despite weak fundamentals.
Platinum was firmer at $903.00/908.00 from $899.00/904.00 previously, while palladium cooled off to $264.00/269.00 from $277.00/282.00.
Dealers said the market's speculative-driven uptrend was still intact but some consolidation was needed before it moved towards resistance at $300.00.