Gold prices eased in Asian trade Wednesday after an overnight rise near one percent on Europe debt concerns.

Gold for immediate delivery was seen trading at $1232.69 an ounce at 11.30 a.m Singapore time while US gold futures for August delivery was at $1,233.3 an ounce.

Analysts however said the precious gold metal is likely to regain momentum on rising stock markets that could still spur a shift to riskier assets.

Gold, which hit a lifetime high of $1,251.20 last week, was likely to consolidate within a wide range of $1,220 to $1,250 before charging higher, they said.

Holdings in the world's largest gold ETF have been unchanged at record levels in the last four sessions, which suggested that investors were keen to hold on to bullion because of lingering concerns about the euro zone's financial sector.

The SPDR Gold Trust were unchanged at a record high of 1,306.137 tonnes.

The euro steadied near two-week highs on Wednesday, while demand for high-yielding currencies was underpinned by a general improvement in risk taking as investors set aside concerns about the euro zone's financial sector for the moment to buy riskier assets.

On Tuesday, Gold for August delivery rose $9.90, or 0.8 per cent, to $1234.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. July silver gained 16.7 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $18.578.

Gold Investment