Spot gold rose 0.3% to $1,874.55 per ounce, as of 0753 GMT, hovering near a June high of $1,879.48 hit on Tuesday, and having risen as much as 0.5% intraday.
U.S. gold futures gained 0.3% to $1,877.60.
Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine accused government forces on Thursday of opening fire on their territory and said they were trying to establish if anyone had been hurt or killed. Ukraine denied these accusations. The report comes as Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops close to Ukraine's borders, raising fears of an invasion.
"Classic risk-off moves ensued late in the Asian session with equity index futures lower, gold and the yen higher. Traders are now waiting for any follow-through to see how this escalates," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst, City Index.
"Should they (Russia) invade, then gold is likely to be catapulted higher, but to see a sharp reversal that sends gold markedly lower would likely require Russian troops to actually be seen leaving the border."
The U.S. dollar clawed back ground after reports of the attack and limited the gains for greenback-priced gold. [USD/][MKTS/GLOB]
Gold was also supported after minutes of the latest policy meeting signalled a less hawkish-than-feared Federal Reserve.
"Gold has been range-bound between $1,845 and $1,880, and should remain here until either geopolitical tensions have eased a little, or the Fed commits to show that they are really still looking to remove liquidity and raise interest rates faster," said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central.
Higher interest rates tend to increase the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-paying gold, but a fall in U.S. Treasury yields support the bullion. [US/].
Spot silver fell 0.1% to $23.52 per ounce, platinum firmed 0.9% to $1,072.36, a three-month high, while palladium rose 1% to $2,303.36.
(Reporting by Bharat Govind Gautam in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shailesh Kuber)
By Bharat Gautam
