Gold prices remained steady during Friday deals in choppy trade, as a dollar rally took a breather, and uncertainty over Europe's fiscal health continued to attract investors to bullion.

Ireland's debt owes continued to grab attention from investors, as Fitch downgraded the country's rating, and the opposition party said it would vote against a bailout package.

The dollar weakened as strong demand at a 30-year Treasury bond auction knocked yields lower, while the euro won a reprieve in Asia.

Traders said the market was set to trade in choppy range as interest ebbs at year-end.

"Gold seems to be finding a base after the last two-day big sell-off," said a Singapore-based trader. "Physical demand should be the key to support at these levels; with downside critical support at $1,371."

Gold was expected to trade in the range of $1,370 to $1,400, he added.

Spot gold edged up 0.3 percent to $1,391.51 an ounce by 0706 GMT, heading for a 1.6 percent weekly decline.

U.S. gold futures was little changed at $1,392.6.

Holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, had been trending down in the past week. It declined 1.518 tonnes to 1,293.778 tonnes by Dec 9 from the previous day.

Precious metals prices at 0706 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pctchg Turnover
Spot Gold 1391.51 4.12 +0.30 27.00
Spot Silver 28.91 0.21 +0.73 71.78
Spot Platinum 1679.74 3.75 +0.22 14.50
Spot Palladium 740.98 5.01 +0.68 82.73
TOCOM Gold 3754.00 4.00 +0.11 15.19 35103
TOCOM Platinum 4574.00 -22.00 -0.48 4.41 8718
TOCOM Silver 78.20 0.70 +0.90 51.26 1619
TOCOM Palladium 2025.00 34.00 +1.71 73.82 560
Euro/Dollar 1.3271
Dollar/Yen 83.70

TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.