Gold see-sawed either side of unchanged in Europe on Monday afternoon, although many dealers remained upbeat on the likelihood of further gains towards $400 an ounce this week, despite the metal having stalled earlier in the day.
Spot bullion stood at $393.40/394.15 by 1430 GMT after hitting a peak just short of $397 at Europe's mid-session and subsequently sliding as low as $392.60. That compared with $394.90/395.65 last quoted in New York on Friday.
The market had jumped around 1.5 percent on Friday to hit a high of $396.10 as the dollar sold off after news of a record first quarter US current account deficit raised concern about US international trade competitiveness.
Dealers said that gold was looking ripe for another leg higher if the market could build a solid base around current levels with help from further dollar weakness.
Dealers also said gold's safe-haven premium had been highlighted as Iraqi insurgents had stepped up deadly attacks before the US occupation authority turned over power to an interim Iraqi government later this month.
New York's COMEX gold futures rose slightly in early trade after Iran said it detained three British vessels in its waters and arrested more than five crew.
However, Kamal Naqvi, precious metals analyst with Barclays Capital, was less upbeat about gold's prospects through to the end of the year.
Spot platinum was indicated at $813.00/818.00, compared with $805.00/810.00 last quoted in New York, while palladium was at $228.00/233.00, up from $225.00/230.00 last quoted in New York.
Traders said both metals were attracting speculative interest again, following on from physical buying that emerged after a sharp drop in both markets back in May.
Silver fell back to $5.82/5.85, compared with $5.97/5.99, having earlier popped briefly back over the $6.00 level when gold hit its peaks of the day.
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