Gold leveled off Thursday after surging to a six-month peak amid anxiety over China and tensions between Russia and the West.
Markets have been on edge all week following data showing Chinese exports plunged, a signal of weak global demand for manufactured goods.
Russia's invasion of the Ukraine has also boosted the appeal of gold, long considered a safe haven in times of uncertainty.
April gold was flat at $1,370 an ounce, having surged from near $1,330 since Monday. Prices reached as high at $1,375 overnight.
Silver was up fractionally to $21.40, after bouncing around $21 earlier in the week.
Copper was down a bit $2.95 a pound, a day after touching a yearly low of $2.90.
Traders will finally get some first-tier U.S. data in the form of February's retail sales this morning.
Analysts expect retail sales to show a recovery from January's weak results. An increase of 0.2 percent is expected when retail sales are reported at 8:30 a.m. ET.
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